At least 22 people were anguished when violence occurred in the stands of a Mexican football match, which was cancelled when the drama spilled onto the field.
The match between Queretaro and Atlas at La Corregidora stadium in the city of Queretaro — the ninth round of the 2022 Clausura football tourney — was in its 63rd minute when fights between fans of both the teams broke out.
The moment security guards opened the stadium doors to let fans to get to safety, some rather continued the heat, forcing the game to be called-off and sending the players to the locker room.
Chaotic scenes came in front, with fans tumbling over each other and others crouching under a shower of fierce kicks and punches.
A VAR monitor was demolished during the clashes, with images posted to social media showing injured fans lying.
“There is no report of people dead, 22 people injured… two of them seriously,” the civil protection for the state of Queretaro voiced after the match was abandoned.
The executive president of Mexico’s Liga-MX criticized the events on Twitter, citing: “Those responsible for the lack of the security at the stadium will be exemplarily punished. The safety of our players and fans is priority!”
Atlas club claimed in a statement that authorities and the league start an investigation into the fight in order to determine ‘responsibilities to those involved’ and ensure ‘the full force of the law will be applied.’
Queretaro governor Marucio Kuri said the owners of the club “and institutions must answer for the facts.”
“I have given instructions for the law to be applied with all its consequences,” he tweeted.
