The confrontation broke out as guards tried to keep out an Al-Shorta -- which means "police" in Arabic -- club official who had opened fire on a rival team's bus on January 21, without causing casualties.

On Tuesday, the official tried to enter the stadium for another match with the support of policemen, resulting in a punch-up with the guards.

The youth and sports ministry sanctioned Al-Shorta -- currently second in Iraq's top league -- by scrapping its contract to use the 40,000-seat Al-Shaab stadium as its home ground because of "the inappropriate behaviour" of the police.

Ali al-Atwani, spokesman for the ministry, said it insisted on the protection of stadium employees and against arms being taken into the ground.

The sports ministry urged the interior ministry to ban armed police from entering the stadium.

The Al-Shorta club was founded in the 1930s and was originally made up of policemen chosen to represent the national force at competitions.