Football referee receives mass beating after he red carded players (Photos)
Raging football hooligans beat a referee within an inch of his life after he red-carded several players during a match in Argentina.
The mob was held back by police as they hurled insults from the stands before they broke free and poured onto the pitch.
Father-of-three Claudio Elichiri fled after being punched in the face and chased by the hooligans as a handful of officers did what little they could to protect him.
Today the local league president claimed it was a “miracle” he was alive as the injured ref showed off his wounds, including a nasty cut under his eye that required four stitches.UK Mirror reports
The violence erupted during a fourth-division match between Sarmiento and Sansinena, who come from different cities in the province of Buenos Aires.
Last night the injured ref said:
“This has got to stop once and for all. I got a real beating. I can’t even move my lips.It was something completely unexpected. I sent a Sarmiento player off for insulting me, another hit me from behind and it all kicked off from there.There were a lot of people, very few police officers and I couldn’t do anything.It’s the first time this has ever happened to me. I’ve got three children, I felt powerless. When I got home my wife and I hugged each other and we cried.”
He told a local radio station: “I don’t make my living from refereeing. I run a construction firm with my dad. I love refereeing and I’m not going to stop now.It’s really bad what happened but things like this make you stronger.“There has to be a really firm punishment for the people who did this.”A referee in Mexico died last month after being headbutted by a player he had red-carded.
Culled from UK Mirror