VIOLENCE erupted yestreday in the stands of a Mexican football match leaving 22 people wounded.

The game was between Queretaro and Atlas at La Corregidora stadium in the city of Queretaro. It is the ninth round of the 2022 Clausura football tournament and was in its 63rd minute when fights between opposing fans broke out.

As security guards opened the stadium doors to allow fans to get to safety, some continued to exchange blows, forcing the game to be stopped, sending players to the locker room.

Chaotic scenes unfolded, with fans tumbling over each other and others cowering under a shower of furious kicks and punches. 

A Video Assistant Referee (VAR) monitor was destroyed during the clashes, with images posted on social media showing injured fans lying prostrate.

“There is no report of people dead, 22 people injured, two of them seriously,” said the civil protection authority for the state of Queretaro.

The executive president of Mexico’s Liga-MX slammed the events on Twitter, writing: “Those responsible for the lack of the security at the stadium will be punished. The safety of our players and fans is priority!”

Atlas club demanded in a statement that authorities and the league open an investigation into the fight to determine “responsibility of those involved” and to 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 incident.”

“I have given instructions for the law to be applied with all its consequences,” he tweeted. – AFP, March 6, 2022.