A stampede broke out on Saturday in the ongoing North East Zone Inter University Judo Championship at Chhatrapati Shahi Ji Maharaj University (CSJMU), Kanpur, when players from two universities clashed with each other. The men’s category matches were being played in Kanpur from Saturday and more than 250 players from about 58 universities are participating.

The fight emerged over a review in the final match. On Saturday, at around 12:30 pm IST, the final match was going on between the players of Lovely Professional University and Delhi University. There was an argument between the two teams regarding a review following which the referee pacified both parties,. However, things started to heat up when a player from one camp hurled abuses at the other.

Within no time, about 10–12 people came from both sides and the matter escalated into a fight. After this, the players of one team caught a player of the other team, dragged him outside the venue and beat him. As soon as information about the incident was received, many officers reached the spot and separated the players of both teams.

During the final, the coaches of the two teams were involved in a heated discussion even as punches were thrown by the players outside the hall. The booing from one side started and it was followed by hooting from another. Both sides came face to face at one point.

While the players of the two teams were in front, the volunteers involved in the championship intervened and tried to calm the dispute, but it escalated the dispute further. The dispute that started with abusive language soon turned into a fight, leading to the play being stopped for close to an hour.