New York, Oct 4 (IANS) A baseball fan in the US state of Connecticut was stabbed over an argument with another man over a rivalry between two teams, police said.

Police in Branford, 128 km from New York, were investigating the Saturday night stabbing of a man, reportedly sparked off by an argument over the rivalry between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox baseball teams, Fox News reported.

A man named Monte Freire was stabbed at a restaurant around 10.42 p.m. Saturday by John Mayor, 45.

An argument about baseball had erupted between Mayor, a Yankees fan, and Freire, a Red Sox supporter, police said.

Friends of the victim chased Mayor through the restaurant’s parking lot. When Mayor saw the police, he threw away the knife he was carrying. Police recovered the knife, arrested Mayor and charged him with first-degree assault.

He was also charged with interfering with an officer, tampering with evidence, breach of peace and possession of a controlled substance.

Freire was taken to hospital and underwent an emergency surgery. He was in a critical condition late Sunday.