Brazil, horror in the field: referee kills player and is beheaded by fans

RIO DE JANEIRO – A normal soccer game between amateurs in Brazil has turned into a war camp. A footballer was mortally wounded by the referee, who was subsequently killed in turn and beheaded by some fans who had witnessed the scene. The episode, reported by ‘GloboEsporte, happened to Pio XII, a village of less than 30 thousand people in the hinterland of Maranhao, a northeast state among the poorest and most violent in the South American country. The referee, Otavio Jordao da Silva de Catanhede, 20, decided to expel the 31-year-old Josenir dos Santos Abreu.

The result was a fight, during which the race director extracted a knife with which he struck the athlete, who could not withstand the serious injuries sustained. The climate, already overheated, has thus degenerated further and the field has been invaded by some spectators. In a rage, the group first immobilized the referee, who was later killed. Not satisfied, the attackers continued, beheading him and showing his head as a trophy. The local police has released a note informing that images collected by mobile phones at the time of the facts are already in the hands of the commissioner in charge of the investigation. The police do not exclude that they can help identify some authors of the barbaric crime. Meanwhile, a suspect has already been handed over to the authorities: Luis Moraes de Sousa, 27, would have admitted participating in the referee’s lynching and named two other people, who would later dismember the victim.

(August 5, 2013)