SYDNEY – The finals of the first Ultimate Frisbee World Championship, held today in Australia’s capital, turned ugly quick. A fight that broke out initially between two players soon cleared the benches and the stands.

“It was like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” said Michael McGregor who made the trip from Boise, Idaho to watch his son play in the match that pitted the U.S. against Italy. “Within a matter of minutes the field was littered with bodies. I’m so thankful that Kelly (his son) was able to get away in time.”

Indeed, many were not so lucky. Among the dead were five American players, seven Italian players, the entire coaching staff from both teams and hundreds of fans.

“We going miss coach,” said Umberto Caligni of the Italian squad, “and all teammate too. Was supposed to be fun game, now not fun. I no understand.”

What started as a shoving match between two players, over an apparent deliberate frisbee delivery to the head, soon turned into a full-on brawl on the pitch.

A few fans were then seen pushing each other around. The crowd quickly turned violent, uprooting chairs and spilling onto the field. They were using anything and everything as weapons.

As the crowd made its way onto the pitch, the players and coaching staff attempted to run for cover. Unfortunately, not all of them made it.

“We’re gonna have a ceremony for the lost when we get back home to the States,” said Adam Litney, American team captain, who made it out with only a broken arm, leg and jaw.

The crowd then had their own on-field brawl à la Gangs of New York. Faces were smashed and legs were twisted the wrong way. The sound of bones breaking and muscles tearing could be heard from miles away. When it was all over, there was no more green or white on the field, just red.

The incident really put a damper on a sport that isn’t normally known for its violence. So much so, that the future of the sport seems in jeopardy.

“We’re going to take a long, hard look at where Ultimate Frisbee stands,” said Rocky Rogue, Chairman of the International Ultimate Frisbee Committee (IUFC). “We hope we can hold future events of this kind, but I really can’t say at this moment whether that’s a legitimate possibility. I don’t know… I really just don’t know.”