A heated brawl involving players, officials and spectators forced the abandonment of the first ever Crescent Cup final in Malaysia.
Sunday's final between the hosts and Algeria was supposed to be the denouement to the six team Islamic international rugby tournament, that also included Iran, Lebanon, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
The competition aimed to promote solidarity and close cooperation between Islamic countries but the New Straits Times reported that an assistant referee had several teeth broken and suffered neck injuries in the melee, while 10 players from both sides required treatment for broken bones and cuts after the fight.
The Algerians were upset at what they saw as the partiality of the Thai referee in Malacca, who later awarded Malaysia a 19-11 victory, according to a report on the match from Radio Algerie.
Malaysian Rugby Union (MRU) general manager Mazuri Sallehudin blamed the organisers of the tournament but accepted that his body, which sanctioned the event, could expect to be held to account by World Rugby.
"I believe the Algerian players could have been frustrated due to communication issues with the referee whose English was hard to understand," he told the New Straits Times.
"From the feedback we have received, the organisers did not have enough security personnel on hand ... to quell the situation quickly.
"(One of our players) was attacked by six Algerians and it was at that point that the spectators went in to help him.
"We have already filed a police report on the incident and will have a council meeting to decide what action to take soon.
"Unfortunately, MRU and possibly the national team could also face disciplinary action from World Rugby and ARFU but we do not know yet."