Youth footballer ‘threatened by man with knife during mass brawl at cup game before running to hide in dressing room’

A FRENCH footballer was confronted by a man with a knife at half-time of a youth cup game in Nantes on Sunday afternoon, reports claim.

The incident is alleged to have taken place during Nantes’ clash with Monaco, with a player from the former being forced to hide in the dressing room after “being hit”.

GettyThe incident is alleged to have occurred during Monaco’s youth cup clash with Nantes[/caption]

With the score tied at 0-0, a fight is claimed have broken out among around 20 spectators.

According to Ouest-France, the unnamed Nantes player was threatened by a man wielding a knife after being assaulted.

Thankfully uninjured, the player headed straight to the dressing room to hide from the aggressor.

The attacker was reportedly able to flee, as stewards attempted to get the alarming situation under control.

Eventually the match was able to get back underway… under the supervision of FIVE police squads.

Monaco went on to score on 60 minutes, winning 1-0 to book a place in the semi-finals.

The Nantes player that was threatened has reportedly opted not to open legal proceedings following the ordeal.

A reason for the half-time fracas has not yet been revealed.

The two sides had contrasting fortunes at first-team level over the weekend.

Nantes grabbed an 88th minute equaliser via Mostafa Mohamed to draw 2-2 with Nice at Stade de la Beaujoire.

While Monaco were beaten 1-0 at home by Reims, managed by British-Belgian Will Still, with the winning goal scored by Arsenal‘s England youth international loanee Folarin Balogun.