BRAZIL: Referee beheaded after killing player

Local reports from Maranhao, Brazil are coming through of a truly horrific incident that happened last Sunday. During an amateur football match, the game turned into a double murder scene as a referee was beheaded by spectators after he had stabbed a player.

Twenty-year-old referee Otavio Jordao da Silva fatally stabbed footballer Josenir dos Santos Abreu, aged 30, after an on field argument. Dos Santos Abreu is believed to have hit Jordao da Silva after questioning a decision. In retaliation, the referee who was carrying a knife down his sock, fatally stabbed the player.

The onlooking group of spectators turned on the referee and brutally murdered him. He was tied up, beaten, stoned and then they cut off his limbs and head. They then put his head on a stake and planted it in the middle of the pitch.

Luiz Moraes de Souza, 27, has been arrested over the incident while the Brazilian police are searching for two more suspects. Handling the case, Valter Costa in a statement said: “One crime never justifies another crime. Actions likes this do not collaborate with the legality of state law.”

Amateur Brazilian football is traditionally known for neck-high tackles, referee abuse and manic crowd “participation”, but this took the usual madness to a horrible appalling level and hopefully the Police can serve justice on the perpetrators of this horrible crime.

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