An ill-tempered European Championship qualification clash between Montenegro and Russia has been abandoned, after the referee was forced to suspend play for a second time in Podgorica midway through the second half.
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The first interruption in the game came in the opening minute, as the visiting goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev was struck by a flare thrown from the crowd. The 28-year-old required lengthy treatment, and was subsequently stretchered off. While the CSKA Moscow stopper was down, the official Deniz Aytekin brought the rest of the players off the pitch.
The match restarted half an hour later, and the stadium announcer threatened that the game would be abandoned if there was further trouble, the Guardian reported.
In the second half, the away side were awarded a contentious penalty, and the decision infuriated the home team.
After the spot-kick was saved, brawls broke out between the players and backroom staff, and reportedly amongst the fans. The referee was persuaded to suspend the game for a second time. However, the players would not return to the pitch.