KSCT Menen player Fabio Schiafino has lost a finger and had two others partially amputated after a spectator from his team threw fireworks onto the pitch at the end of the match against SK Zillebeke in Belgium’s Provincial Division C 4.

The 26-year-old, who was celebrating his birthday and had scored two goals in KSCT Menen’s 4-0 win, picked up the projectile to remove it from the pitch, but it exploded in his hand.

“When the smoke cleared, I saw that part of my fingers were gone,” Schiafino recounted on HLN.

‘VRT News’ reports that the 26-year-old footballer was seriously injured when fireworks exploded in his hand and was admitted to the ICU of a Bruges hospital.

“A Cobra 6 was thrown, a heavy pyrotechnic product with the power of a hand grenade that is banned,” explained Mathieu Verhoest, president of local team SK Zillebeke.

Everyone thought it was a smoke bomb

“The referee blew the whistle and then some kind of grenade was thrown onto the pitch. At first everyone thought it was a smoke bomb, but then it turned out that it was actually a Cobra 6. This is a heavy pyrotechnic product with the power of a hand grenade is prohibited in our country,”

Police arrested the spectator, a 21-year-old from Wevelgem, for questioning and then released him.

“We deeply regret this incident and distance ourselves from the person in question. He is not known to our club, but has been identified. KSCT Menen will take civil action in this case through the police. The club will provide the necessary cooperation in the case. investigation to be conducted by both the police and the Belgian Football Federation,” KSCT Menen released in a statement.