A former national footballer and his younger brother, were beaten following an incident at a wake on Friday night.

Information reaching THE STAR is that the men were beaten by mourners during a nine night in a Kingston community.

THE STAR gathered that a large crowd, included men who were previously unwelcome in the community, turned out to pay respect to deceased. Residents said permission was granted for all to attend the wake and pay their respect.

One of those who turned out however, was a man with whom the footballer's brother had had an altercation in the past.

attack

"Him see a man who did cut him from long time and him move to the man and attack him," one resident said. "The people dem never want dem vibes deh, but the baller go get involved a defend him brother and di people dem start say this and that."

Residents said the behaviour of the footballer and his brother angered other influential persons in the community.

"Dem say fi mek bygones be bygones. Everybody deh deh and see wah gwan, some people did panic," another resident revealed. "Di people dem lick the two of dem, mi all hear say di baller face swell up after the beating." The residents said though things were quickly brought under control, the air is still tense.

Efforts to speak with the footballer, who currently plays for one of Jamaica's top football clubs, proved futile yesterday.

Head of the Kingston Central Police Division, Superintendent Victor Hamilton, was unaware of an incident.

He said: "The only incident I know happened at the nine night was that shots were fired. A report was made to police control ... I will investigate the matter about the footballer because if it is so, it has implications to go further, so we'll definitely look into that".