A football game, a contested referee decision and around 100 dead in Guinea

Purported videos circulating on social media, showed scenes of chaos in the street outside the match and numerous bodies lying on the ground.

Clashes between fans at a football match in N'Zerekore, Guinea's second largest city, left around 100 people dead and many others injured on Sunday.

Clashes broke out on the streets of Guinea's second-largest city. (Representational Image)

Witnesses described the scenes of mass carnage in the West African nation, with hospital morgue getting full, news agency AFP reported.

"There are bodies lined up as far as the eye can see in the hospital. Others are lying on the floor in the hallways. The morgue is full," a doctor said on condition of anonymity.

According to the doctor, "there are around 100 dead", with bodies filling the local hospital and morgue. Another doctor said there were "dozens of dead".

Videos circulating on social media, which were not immediately verified, showed scenes of chaos in the street outside the match and numerous bodies lying on the ground.

Witnesses also confirmed that the N'Zerekore police station was set on fire after the carnage broke out on the streets. The reason? A decision by a referee that the fans did not agree with.

"It all started with a contested decision by the referee. Then fans invaded the pitch," a witness told AFP, again on the condition of anonymity.

According to the local media, the unfortunate game was part of a tournament organised in honour of Guinea's interim President Mamadi Doumbouya, who seized power in a 2021 coup.

Doumbouya is said to have set his eyes on a potential run in presidential elections expected next year. Such tournaments have become a part of his outreach program in the country for that potential run.

The reign so far since the September 2021 coup

Mamadi Doumbouya seized power by force in September 2021 by overthrowing President Alpha Conde, who had placed the then-colonel in charge of an elite force tasked with protecting the head of state from such coups.

Under international pressure, he pledged to hand power back to a civilian government by the end of 2024 but has since made clear he will not.

The military leader "exceptionally" promoted himself to the rank of lieutenant general in January and last month, he elevated himself to the rank of army general.

Doumbouya has presided over an ongoing crackdown on dissent, with many opposition leaders detained, brought before the courts or forced into exile.

A "transitional charter" drawn up by the junta shortly after the coup said that no member of the junta could stand in either national or local elections. But Doumbouya's backers have recently expressed their support for his candidacy in the next presidential election.

At the end of September, authorities indicated that elections intended to restore constitutional order would be held in 2025.

Doumbouya is one of several officers who have seized power in West Africa since 2020, along with fellow military leaders in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.