CNN
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Four Michigan State University football players have been suspended while school police investigate a fight in a stadium tunnel after the University of Michigan Wolverines No. Michigan State Spartans 29-7 on Saturday.
Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker announced in A declaration that the players were suspended from the squad after “reviewing the disturbing electronic evidence” of the altercation. The suspensions will be in effect until investigations into the incident are complete, Tucker said.
A video posted to Twitter by The Detroit News showed several Spartan players in an altercation with a Wolverine player in the Michigan Stadium tunnel in Ann Arbor.
Michigan football head coach Jim Harbaugh said two of his players were “assaulted” and one of them may have a broken nose.
“I saw the only video, the 10 to one, it’s…pretty bad,” Harbaugh said.
“What happened after the game is totally unacceptable,” Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said.
School police from both universities are jointly investigating the incident. In his statement on player suspensions, Tucker said Michigan State will continue to assess “additional student-athlete involvement in altercations and contributing factors.”
Michigan State Vice President and Athletic Director Alan Haller called proof “alarming”, adding that “the behavior we examined was both unusual for our football program and unacceptable”.
Manuel said he’s spoken with Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren and “he’s looking into the matter.”
“Police are also looking into it, and it’s because they saw the video,” Manuel said. “We will leave it in their hands.”
CNN has contacted the Big Ten for comment.
Michigan State President Samuel L. Stanley Jr. apologized to Michigan, calling the incident “unacceptable behavior.”
“I am extremely saddened by this incident and the unacceptable behavior described by members of our football program,” Stanley said in a statement.
“On behalf of Michigan State University, my sincere apologies to the University of Michigan and the student-athletes who were injured. There is no provocation that could justify the behavior we see on the videos Rivalries can be intense but should never be violent.
Tucker addressed the brawl on Twitter.
“As Spartans, our program has a responsibility to maintain the highest level of sportsmanship,” Tucker tweeted on Sunday.
“While emotions were running high at the end of our rivalry game at Michigan Stadium, there is no excuse for behavior that puts our team or our opponents at risk.”
The MSU president said, “Coach Tucker will hold the players involved accountable, and our football team and our university will cooperate with all related investigations by law enforcement and the Big Ten Conference.”
The two schools released a joint statement saying, “University of Michigan Police, in partnership with Michigan State University Police, Michigan Athletics and Michigan Football, are actively reviewing the footage and investigating the incident. post-match incident.”
“Situations like these, and the safety of the community, are taken very seriously,” the statement said.
Interstate schools have had a historic rivalry for generations.
“But that’s not how we should interact after a game,” Michigan athletic director Manuel said. “It’s completely and utterly unacceptable. … It’s not what a rivalry should be.
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