A South African referee dispelled any doubt that football is more important than life and death over the weekend when he shot dead a coach and wounded two players who challenged a decision.
A yellow card awarded to a player during a match between two local teams in Kenton-on-Sea in Eastern Cape province prompted protests from the coach and team. That is a common enough occurence at matches but in this case the argument turned into a fight which the referee settled with a bullet.
The coach of Marcelle club was hit in the chest and died on the pitch and two players were hit in their hands by the same bullet, according to the South African Press Association.
”There was an altercation and the referee became threatened when the other team approached him because they were angry,” said Inspector Mali Govender of Grahamstown police. ”So he pulled out a gun and killed the coach of the visiting team.”
The unnamed referee fled the scene but police were confident he would be soon caught and face one charge of murder and two cases of attempted murder. The dead man’s name would be released after relatives were notified.
Since winning the right to host the 2010 World Cup South African football has been plagued by a match fixing scandal in which a cartel of crooked referees are accused of taking bribes.
It was an English football legend, Bill Shankly, who joked about football’s importance transcending mortality — but it has become a truism.
Across the world referees have been set upon by furious fans and in Latin America two nations went to war over a football match. But usually referees are the attacked, not the attackers. South Africa’s widespread gun ownership has changed that. – Guardian Unlimited Â