Football: Police have to intervene in Brazilian mass brawl

A BRAZILIAN championship match descended into chaos when the goalkeeper of one of the teams refused to give the ball back after conceding a penalty.

The Atletico Mineiro against Vitoria match was interrupted for nearly 10 minutes on Wednesday as police attempted to separate feuding players and officials, and the fight re-started as soon as the final whistle went.

The chaos began when Atletico, trailing 2-0, converted a penalty midway through the second half to bring themselves back into the game. The Atletico strikers Lincoln, who scored the goal, and Valdir rushed to pick the ball out of the net but Vitoria's goalkeeper Fabio Costa got there first and refused to hand it over.

Fabio Costa then aimed a karate-style kick at Lincoln, leading to a massive fight which ended with Lincoln and the Vitoria midfielder Otacilio being sent off.

Vitoria held out for a 2-1 win but Atletico players were incensed when only four minutes of injury time were added on. When the game ended, several Atletico players attacked Fabio Costa, knocking him to the ground despite the intervention of police.