A soccer player was arrested on the field after sucker-punching a woman ref over minor foul call
Twitter/Cesar Luis Merlo
- A footballer in Buenos Aires was arrested after he sucker-punched a woman referee from behind.
- The attack came after the player was called for a foul and one of his teammates was issued a yellow card.
- The referee went to a hospital and wants the player suspended for life.
A soccer match was suspended and a player was arrested after a brutal attack on a female referee.
Cristian Tirone of the third-division Club Deportivo Garmense in Argentina was arrested on the field after he attacked the referee from behind.
The official appeared to call a foul on Tirone, who argued the call vehemently. As he was being pulled away by teammates, the referee issued a yellow card to one of Tirone's teammates for dissent.
That was when Tirone broke free, rushed the referee from behind, and threw a punch towards her head, knocking her down. After being pushed away by the assistant refs, police came on the field and arrested the player.
According to Twitter, the caption on this video reads: "Cowardly attack on a female referee of a soccer player in the reserve match Independencia against Garmense, corresponding to the Tres Arroyos League. The victim is Dalma Cortadi and the perpetrator, Cristian Tirone."
—César Luis Merlo (@CLMerlo) July 31, 2022
The game was suspended after the attack, and Cortadi was taken to a hospital, according to La Nacion.
She later told the Olé News (via La Nacion) that she was kept under observation at the hospital for a blow to the head and scrapes and bruises on her arms.
"This situation harms me at work since it makes me unable to work," Cortadi told Olé, according to Google translate. "Now I must be strong. The blows left me sore ... You have to kick him out forever. He should never be in any club. He is a violent person. He must also be in his daily life. I saw it on the video: a normal person does not do what this man did. No person deserves this. We don't go to the [matches] to be beaten. I hope he pays for what he did."
The club issued a statement after the attack:
"Given the events that occurred this Sunday during the Third Division football match that was played in the city of Adolfo Gonzales Chaves between Garmense and Independencia, during which a player from Garmense physically attacked the woman who officiated as referee, the Club expresses its energetic repudiation of this action that is at odds with the spirit that is intended to instill with the practice of this sport. The Institution expresses its solidarity with the official who was attacked, expresses its apologies, makes itself available to her and commits to continue working to eradicate violence in all its forms and train athletes with values such as: discipline, camaraderie, commitment and, above all, respect and tolerance. -- Board of Directors and Football Sub-Commission."