With the score tied at 2-2 in the 52nd minute, match referee Pavle Ristić from Novi Sad fell unconscious after getting hit in the head with an object thrown from the stands.
In Split, the disciplinary measure set off violent street protests that quickly assumed a distinctly anti-Belgrade and anti-Serb tone and ended up lasting for days.
Led by the club's ultra fan group, Torcida, the practice of seeking out parked cars with the city of Belgrade license plates and pushing them into the Adriatic Sea off the docks was especially widespread in Split during the protests.
The press also reported about some of the gathered mob spontaneously launching into a cynical and sarcastic rendition of Sergio Endrigo's then current and popular song "Kud plovi ovaj brod" ('Where is This Ship Going') as the cars with Belgrade plates were pushed into the sea and floated in the water before sinking.
[1] Due to the undertones of ethnic hatred and potential to undermine the country's official inter-ethnic guiding principle during the politically sensitive time when MASPOK was gathering steam in SR Croatia, the Split football protests quickly came to the attention of Yugoslav federal authorities that decided to deal with the situation by pressing FSJ into changing its disciplinary ruling and registering the original 2-2 score.