Picture Credit: Twitter
In a shocking incident, a Brazilian footballer has been charged with attempted murder after he kicked a referee in the head during a second division football match. The football, being identified as William Ribeiro, kicked referee Rodrigo Crivellaro twice during a live football encounter between Sao Paulo de Rio Grande and hosts Guarani de Venancio Aires.
So intense was the act of violence that the referee was knocked unconscious, authorities said. In fact, the second of Ribeiro's kick came when the official was already lying down on the ground. The events unfolded after Crivellaro had decided against giving Ribeiro's Sao Paulo a free kick.
It is being reported that the match was immediately suspended and the referee was admitted to a local hospital. The positive news is that there is nothing to worry about the health of the officialas he has been released from the hospital on Tuesday morning.
Referee had no chance of defending himself: Police investigator
The culprit Riberio has not only been arrested at the stadium with attempted murder but it is being learned that his football career could well be over with his club terminating his contract with immediate effect. Local police investigator Vinicius Assuno was quoted in a Sky Sports report saying that a judge is set to decide whether Riberio will remain in custody during their investigation or can be released on a bail.
"His attack was very strong and violent, kicking the referee in the head and making him pass out," Assuno said as quoted in the same report.
"The referee had no chance of defending himself," he added.
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While there have been instances of footballers losing their cool in the heat of the moment but what happened on Monday was completely unacceptable and even the Sport Club Sao Paulo has termed in "one of the saddest episodes in their history." The match which was suspended due to the incident on the pitch has now been rescheduled to next week on Tuesday.
It is such a shame that such an incident coincided with Sau Paulo's 123rd anniversary- a day which they would rather want to forget.