Referee Facundo Espinosa was forced to abandon a game between Argentinian third-tier teams Deportivo Roca and Cipolletti in Group 1 of the Torneo Federal A, when an apparently innocuous foul by Cipolletti defender Marcos Lamolla on Roca’s Fernando Fernandez erupted into an all-out brawl between the opposing players.
Fernandez was sent off for arguing with the ref and he was trudging towards the dressing room when Lamolla ran the length of the field to confront him. A free-for-all ensured with players taking punches and kung fu kicks at each other in crazy pitch scenes.
Espinosa said afterwards that he sent off 12 players in the chaos.
Incidentally, Cipolletti was up 1-0 when the game was stopped.