Brazilian football referee pulls GUN on the pitch after row over red card
A Brazilian referee is facing disciplinary action after he reacted to a dispute with players by pulling a GUN.
Gabriel Murta was kicked and slapped by players from lower-league Amantes de Bola, while the manager invaded the pitch demanding a red card, it is claimed.
Murta, said to be a policeman by day, reacted by racing to the changing rooms and returning with a firearm. ...
See the whole story (and video) here, courtesy of Mirror.
Kicking Back Comments: I have to say frankly that part of me wonders why this does not happen more, where referees lash out physically. There have been a number of recent incidents that come to mind where a referee has been killed as a result of player violence. See here, here, here, and here (warning very graphic content). This last incident saw a referee killed, quartered, beheaded, and his severed head placed on a pike near midfield. There have been dozens more assaults and hundreds more of provocations by players. See here for some other examples. So what is stopping referees from fighting back? Duty? Honor? Respect for the craft?
I do agree that brandishing a weapon is not the way, and in fact if this occurred in the US it would be considered a crime, not self defense as the referee went back into the locker room to retrieve the weapon and come back out to confront the player who assaulted him.
How long before we see a referee provoked into assaulting a player?