Footballer stretchered off field after being hit by fish thrown by rival fan

Crowd trouble took a turn for the bizarre during a game between Racing Club and Independiente in Argentina when a player was stretchered off the pitch after being hit by a fish thrown by a fan.

The clubs are bitter rivals and the game was a typically fractious affair with eight yellow cards shown over the course of the 90 minutes.

Gabriel Hauche’s strike was enough to ensure the hosts, Racing Club, earned the win but the result was immaterial after scenes reminiscent of a Monty Python sketch disrupting the play.

Moments after entering the fray, Independiente’s Leandro Fernandez was felled by an unusual missile - a fish! Perhaps surprisingly, the blow caused Fernandez serious problems.

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The forward lay on the ground and needed medical assistance. He was, in fact, stretchered off the pitch before returning to the fold almost immediately.

Obviously, the behaviour of football supporters in recent times is a subject for concern, with repeated incidents of misbehaviour involving fans entering the field of play towards the end of last season, but there is something so absurd about this situation that it’s hard to take too seriously.

The general consensus online was that the reaction of the player was the most egregious aspect of the footage, much as throwing things at footballers is to be condemned.

All’s well that ends well, however, and Fernandez was fit enough to take part in the goalless draw with Rosario in his team’s following fixture.

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