Mathilde Demoncay suffered a mild concussion and was forced to leave the pitch during FC Metz's 3-1 friendly victory over Fortuna Sittard on Wednesday evening. The incident occurred in the 39th minute when a heated altercation between players spiralled into a full-scale melee that pulled the referee directly into the chaos.
The trouble began after a shirt-tugging foul on Sittard forward Lequincio Zeefuik. The young attacker was provoked into an aggressive response, but within seconds the confrontation had escalated dramatically as players from both benches rushed onto the pitch. Demoncay attempted to restore order by positioning herself at the centre of the disturbance, but lost her footing and collapsed to the ground. Medical staff immediately assessed her condition and diagnosed a mild concussion, ruling her out for the remainder of the match.
Emergency Officiating Changes Force Unusual Solution
The injury created an unusual logistical challenge for the officiating team. With no replacement referee on standby, one of the assistant officials was promoted to take charge for the second half. To cover the vacant linesman position, a spectator who holds an active amateur referee qualification was pressed into service and completed the final 45 minutes with the flag. This improvised solution kept the friendly on schedule, though it remains an uncommon occurrence in professional football.
Coach Danny Buijs and Sittard will use their next fixture—a friendly against Cypriot side APOEL Nicosia next Friday—as their final dress rehearsal. The Dutch Eredivisie season looms on 8 August with an away match at PSV Eindhoven. For FC Metz, their Ligue 2 campaign begins on 9 August at home to EA Guingamp, with a warm-up fixture against 1. FC Kaiserslautern scheduled for 1 August.
