KUALA LUMPUR: It was supposed to be a friendly, but the match was anything but friendly. Tempers flared and the game was abandoned.
Both Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) and Bulgaria's Levski Sofia flew halfway around the world for a pre-season warm-up match at the Jebel Ali Centre of Excellence Stadium in Dubai on Saturday. And they took the friendly seriously, giving it their all, and the match turned ill-tempered.
But the game was called off after just 54 minutes when the Malaysian Super League champions were leading 1-0 through a goal by their new signing from Spain, Juan Muniz in the 24th minute.
Things turned ugly in Levski Sofia's overzealous attempt to equalise which resulted in a fight.
The Bulgarians eventually walked off the field and refused to continue play.
Levski Sofia, who used to play in the UEFA Champions League, said in a posting: "Due to non-sportsmanship and rude performance of the opponent, the match was terminated at the 54th minute."
JDT responded by stating in their social media page: "Match abandoned at 54th minute due to opposition's lack of sportsmanship, excessive aggression and failure of Serbian referee in controlling the match."
Club owner Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim reiterated that Levski Sofia played aggressively.
"The team made a tackle but no yellow card (given). JDT stood a wall a couple of metres away and they were given a yellow card," said Tunku Ismail.
"For me, the Serbia referee lost control of the game.
"The No 30 spat in Leandro Velazquez's face and kicked him but no card was given.
"From there, the game became aggressive with tensions running high.
"Maybe they couldn't accept that a small club from Asia was leading 1-0 against a European club."
Meanwhile, it is understood that the matter could be taken up to the two teams' respective FAs for further action as it is a friendly match.
However since it is outside of the jurisdiction of Fifa, Uefa or AFC, these governing bodies will not be able to take action.
The Asian Football Confederation were unavailable for comment today on the matter.