On September 9, a horror scene marked a match between FC Romanel and FC Échandens in the 50+ seniors championship. For a simple yellow card, the referee was violently attacked after the match. Insulted and beaten, he ended up in the hospital. Two days after the game, the game director decided to file a complaint. “24 Heures” managed to obtain the criminal complaint filed.
As had already been reported by various media at the time of the incident, the referee explained that he had warned the FC Échandens goalkeeper during the game. The coach then took his player out because he felt the situation was becoming tense. This was not enough to calm the player.
The official says that everything escalated after the match when the player in question approached him “yelling and gesticulating”. “You, referee! I’m going to get you out of arbitration. I have knowledge. Dirty Arab!”, the goalkeeper would have shouted, according to the referee’s account. The latter then immediately brandished the red card.
“At the sight of the box, he threw himself at me and grabbed me firmly around the neck,” he continues. Pinned against the wall and no longer able to breathe, I tried to free myself. “That’s when he punched me in the face, hitting me in the right cheek,” the referee said in his complaint.
apology letter
While he was on the ground, the player allegedly continued to grab his neck. Although restrained by witnesses, he managed to hit the referee in the abdomen and knee. These insults would have followed: “Cry! You have no balls! Like a woman!”
Still according to “24 Heures”, the referee was admitted to hospital with odynodysphagia (pain when swallowing), neck pain with dermabrasion, a superficial scratch of the skin as well as pain in the right leg.
The goalkeeper sent a letter of apology to the referee, according to the same source. In addition, an investigation was opened by the Swiss Football Association.
