Dozens of footy fans become violently ill with gastro and pass out in the stands during swanky $725-a-head lunch at the MCG
- More than 30 guests at the $725-a-head dinner were struck down with illness
- Some were taken to hospital and some even passed out in the stands
- Only the people at the dinner were affected and cause is being investigated
- Do you know more? Email nic.white@mailonline.com
Dozens of football fans were struck down with gastro during the fancy Essendon president's lunch at the MCG.
Paramedics treated more than 30 people who became violently ill during and after the $725-a-head lunch and took several to hospital.
Some of the 600 guests even passed out in the stands during and after the annual dinner held before the Anzac Day clash between the Bombers and Collingwood.
Paramedics (pictured outside) treated more than 30 people who became violently ill during and after the $725-a-head lunch and took several to hospital
Video from the lunch showed paramedics in the stands outside the dining room, as former Essendon premiership coach Kevin Sheedy talked on stage.
'Chaos here at the President's Lunch. Five people have fainted and that was BEFORE Kevin started talking,' the guest wrote online.
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Only diners at the star-studded lunch in the MCG's Olympic Room were affected and the Melbourne Cricket Club is investigating the cause.
'The MCC are working in cooperation with health services to understand what caused the medical issues,' it said in a statement.
Video from the lunch showed paramedics in the stands outside the dining room, as former Essendon premiership coach Kevin Sheedy talked on stage
Some of the 600 guests even passed out in the stands during and after the annual dinner held before the Anzac Day clash between the Bombers and Collingwood
'If you were a guest in the Olympic Room and are experiencing gastro intestinal symptoms, please seek medical attention if the symptoms are causing you distress.'
One guest said she started feeling unwell after eating the rabbit and chicken terrine entree abut 1pm.
'It was strange that everything seemed to happen at about the same time with everyone,' she told 3AW radio.
'A young man in the row in front of me passed out and I'd been feeling like I was going to faint at about the time it happened to him. They took him away.'
The event, only available to guests who shelled out $1,750 on a package of four matchday lunches, was billed as a way to entertain clients
Guests enjoyed 'a custom-designed two-course meal, beverages by Treasury Wine Estates and Colonial Brewing Co, level two centre wing seating'
The event, only available to guests who shelled out $1,750 on a package of four matchday lunches, was billed as a way to entertain clients.
Guests enjoyed 'a custom-designed two-course meal, beverages by Treasury Wine Estates and Colonial Brewing Co, level two centre wing seating'.
The mass illness added more controversy to the match in which Essendon fans were criticised for booing Collingwood star Scott Pendelbury.
The Magpies captain was receiving a best of ground medal from a decorated war veteran at the time.
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