Hearts' friendly with Almeria has been abandoned just before half-time after a fight broke out between both sets of players.
The match was halted by the referee shortly before the interval as punches were thrown and coaching staff also were involved in a touchline spat.
It is understood the flashpoint started between Alex Cochrane and Almeria star Rodrigo Ely following a late challenge by the Hearts defender.
Both players were flashed red cards following the incident and as a result the decision was taken to halt play.
Hearts' Spanish opponents were leading by a goal to nil at the time of the incident following a goal just before the half-hour mark from Sousa.
A Hearts tweet read: "Following altercations between both sets of players, the decision has been made to abandon the match."
Hearts boss Robbie Neilson accused the Spanish players of over-reacting to a “standard” tackle and said there was little option but to abandon the game after the referee “totally lost control”.
Speaking to Hearts TV, Neilson said: “It was a very competitive game and all of a sudden on the far side there was a tackle from Alex which I thought was just a standard tackle and then all hell broke loose.
“The ref just totally lost control of it – benches were over and there was about 60 people on the pitch.
“It was just a bit of a shambles, so we just felt that in a pre-season game, there’s no point carrying on because tensions were extremely high to say the least.
“There’s always going to be a competitive edge but there’s a line that you can’t really cross and I think it got crossed several times.”
