Protests between the Maputo Matchdje bench and the fourth official led to tempers flaring in the provincial capital of Niassa on Sunday.

According to Rádio Moçambique, Maputo's Matchedje were leading 1-0 with seven minutes left when a penalty was awarded to Ferroviário de Lichinga.

Meanwhile, the visitors challenged the decision, claiming that the penalty hadn't existed and that the same referee had already given them the same penalty in another match. It was during protests between the Matchdje Maputo bench and the fourth official that tempers flared and the police fired tear gas.

Some players were assisted onto the Ferroviário de Lichinga pitch, but there were no reports of injuries, at least in the aftermath of the police intervention.

"What those police and military did is a real shame for our soccer. There were shots fired, players fainted from tear gas. It's important that whoever is in charge intervenes," Abneiro Ussaca, coach of Matchedje Maputo, the team that went to Lichinga, told Rádio Moçambique at the end of the match.

The radio team itself complained about the intervention, which forced them to momentarily leave their equipment and reporting posts, and one of the commentators described it as an "excess of zeal".