Seven people were arrested in south western France when a regional boules match descended into a mass brawl.
The Aquitaine pétanque championships ended in chaos and the referee suffered a blow to the head after one of the players became annoyed by a presence of an old rival in the crowd, the Local reports.
Historically the area of Aquitaine, which used to belong to the English crown following the marriage of the Duchess to Henry II, has a violent past, being a key battle ground during the Hundred Years War.
According to reports, the pair became involved in an altercation as four people arrived at the arena with bats, iron bars and even a walking stick with a metal handle; things went downhill quickly after that as what started out as a boules-related argument turned into violence.
The fight was apparently covered up to avoid any trouble or unwanted media attention until a mobile phone with footage of the event was passed to the police. Following the production of this evidence, seven people were arrested including three generations of one family – the grandfather, son and grandson.
They face charges of violence and using a weapon during a sporting event.
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