A female referee was injured and had to leave the pitch after being knocked to the ground during a friendly between French club Metz and Fortuna Sittard of the Netherlands.
Mathilde Demoncay reportedly suffered a concussion when she was knocked to the ground as she tried to break up a melee between the players.
Tension flared ‌in the 40th minute when two ‌opposing players confronted each other after a shirt-tugging incident, with other players rushing to join in the confrontation. Demoncay ended up on the ground after attempting to intervene, falling heavily.
She was in pain and holding her arm, before being helped from the pitch. Demoncay was later diagnosed with a concussion, The Telegraph reports.
The match resumed after the referee was helped from the field with a different official taking charge.
Demoncay served as assistant referee for the remainder of the half, before sitting out with the concussion. Metz went on to win the match 3-1.
Watch the video below.
Terrible image d’une échauffourée lors du match amical Metz-Fortuna Sittard, quand Lequincio Zeefuik réagit mal à un tirage de maillot de Jessy Deminguet.
Dans l’agitation, l’arbitre de la rencontre Mathilde Demoncay a fini à terre.
[🎥: @FossoSzn] pic.twitter.com/yrNauDt2J9
— 🇫🇷 Foot néerlandais 🇳🇱 (@Foot_NL) July 25, 2026