A manhunt is underway after a 2024 UEFA European Championship qualifier was suspended on Monday night following a horrendous terrorist attack in Belgium, with the shooter said to still be at large.
Two people wearing Sweden shirts were fatally shot in the city of Brussels ahead of the match between Belgium and Sweden, according to the Daily Mail.
Read: Messi 'persuades' Barca star to make MLS switch
UEFA later released a statement confirming the game had been abandoned.
"Following a suspected terrorist attack in Brussels this evening, it has been decided, after consultation with the two teams and the local police authorities, that the UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying match between Belgium and Sweden is abandoned," it read.
It is believed that although officials wanted the match to go on, players from both teams, including Manchester United's Victor Lindelof and Tottenham Hotspur's Dejan Kulusevski, decided at half-time that play should be stopped with the score 1-1 at that point, and refused to go out for the second half.
For their own safety, both the players and supporters of both teams were kept in the stadium for more than two hours after the game was called off, before they were escorted out.
The assailant is reported to be a member of ISIS carrying out a "revenge attack" for an incident that had recently taken place in the US, when a Palestinian boy was stabbed by his mother's landlord.
Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo also suggested the act was linked to terrorism, adding that the night was supposed to be "a wonderful soccer party".
"Terrorism is directed against people everywhere," he said at a press conference on Tuesday morning, as per the Irish Independent.
"Terrorists will never defeat us and we are fighting it together with our Swedish friends.
"Moments like these are a heavy ordeal but we are never going to let ourselves be intimidated by them."
Read: Man Utd's ownership: A new dawn or more gloom?
With the shooter understood to still be at large, a manhunt is now currently underway.
UPDATE: According to Sky Sports, Belgian police have now shot dead a man suspected of killing the two Swedish fans.
You must be SIGNED IN to read and post comments.
WATCH: