Heroic referee Alex King will make a low-key return to officiating on Friday night time in Perth however gained’t be in control of a match once more till the brand new 12 months.
Nonetheless nursing a bruised head after being assaulted whereas attempting to rescue Melbourne Metropolis goalkeeper Tom Glover throughout final Saturday night time’s violent pitch invasion at AAMI Park, King will fly to Western Australia on Thursday to carry out VAR duties within the following night time’s A-League conflict between the Glory and Wellington Phoenix at Macedonia Park.
All VAR assignments often happen at a centralised Sydney bunker, however with the Glory’s short-term dwelling floor being solely of NPL commonplace, a scarcity of know-how means the VAR should be on the floor.
It’s understood King had already been assigned VAR duties for this spherical earlier than he was assaulted final weekend.
King’s subsequent recreation in cost is scheduled to be on January 2 in Wellington when the Phoenix hosts Melbourne Metropolis at Sky Stadium.
That task had additionally been scheduled earlier than final Saturday night time’s pitch invasion at AAMI Park.
Sources near King – who has spent a part of this week renovating his Gold Coast dwelling – say the Queenslander stays as passionate ever about refereeing and is raring to return to motion as quickly as attainable.
Earlier the week, Soccer Australia referees boss Nathan Magill praised King for his bravery in working in direction of the oncoming pitch invaders in a bid to guard Glover, who ended up with a minimize face after being hit with identical bucket which struck King’s head.
“For individuals who don’t learn about Alex, he cares about individuals,” Magill informed Information Corp the day after the incident.
“He simply went over to Tom and thought ‘let’s get out of right here collectively’. It was fairly courageous of him to attempt to assist another person out.”
