Soccer... more dangerous for referees than players?

[tRidiot]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/07/0...ly-punched-during-game-in-critical-condition/

The Michigan soccer referee critically injured this weekend after he was sucker-punched during an adult-league game died Tuesday in an area hospital.

John Bieniewicz, 44, was left in critical condition Saturday in Livonia after witnesses say he was punched in the head as he reached down for a red card.

Police said Baseel Abdul-Amir Saad punched Bieniewicz after he indicated that the 36-year-old Dearborn resident was going to be ejected. Livonia police and the Wayne County prosecutor's office have not named the referee, whom Acho identified as Bieniewicz.

One witness told MyFoxDetroit.com that Bieniewicz was punched near his throat and fell without raising his arms. The death was confirmed by the hospital and a family friend.

Saad was arraigned Monday in Livonia District Court on a charge of assault with intent to do great bodily harm. Bond was set at $500,000, and a probable-cause hearing was set for July 10. It is unclear if Saad will face new charges.

Bieniewicz was a dialysis technician with a wife and two sons, said attorney Jim Acho, who was a childhood friend. Acho says a fund is being set up to help pay for his friend's funeral and burial expenses, as well as his children's futures.

According to Acho, Bieniewicz was the only student-athlete in the class of 1988 to letter in both football and basketball at the ultra-competitive Detroit parochial school. Acho, who ran a basketball camp with Bieniewicz for four years after high school, said his 6-foot-5 friend would "wow the kids with dunks."

But much to the surprise of his friends, Bieniewicz gravitated to soccer and fell in love with the sport. He has been a well-respected referee for two decades. He was doing what he loved on Sunday when he was attacked at Mies Park, Acho said.

MyFoxDetroit.com reported that Saad’s team has been kicked out of the league.

In April 2013, a 17-year-old player punched referee Ricardo Portillo after being called for a foul during a soccer game in Taylorsville, Utah, near Salt Lake City. Portillo, a father of three, died after a week in a coma. The teen pleaded guilty to a homicide charge.

 

[SoonerP226]

WTF is wrong with people? It's a effing game; get over yourself.

If you want to see a violent "non-contact" sport, watch some indoor soccer. My dad, brother, sister-in-law, sister, and brother-in-law all used to play that "sport," and, oy, the stories that could be told...

 

[tRidiot]

Yeah. It's pretty sad.

 

[Biggsly]

Sad..

 

[FullAuto]

If you want to see a violent "non-contact" sport, watch some indoor soccer. My dad, brother, sister-in-law, sister, and brother-in-law all used to play that "sport," and, oy, the stories that could be told...

That's the truth. I've witnessed many bench clearing brawls at indoor games that have spilled out into the parking lot. I know there have been guns drawn too, at which time the fight has typically put to an abrupt end.

 

[JD8]

That's the truth. I've witnessed many bench clearing brawls at indoor games that have spilled out into the parking lot. I know there have been guns drawn too, at which time the fight has typically put to an abrupt end.

Yep. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt....... in my youth. It was worse when we had a Co-ed team.

 

[SoonerP226]

I never saw anything get out into the parking lot, but I do know of one fellow who learned that you need to cinch up your big-boy pants when you try to play rough with a former defensive end. This guy was body-checking everyone in sight, both in the field of play and into the walls (in a co-ed game, no less), and the ref wasn't calling squat. The guy finally started a run on my dad, which ended up being his biggest mistake of the night--Dad saw him coming and "got into his best linebacker stance" and laid him out. (At the time, Dad was in his fifties, but was still in better physical condition than most men half his age.) The ref threatened to card him, but they had no more trouble with Mr. Can't Tell the Difference Between Soccer and Australian Rules Football...

 

[FullAuto]

Yep. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt....... in my youth. It was worse when we had a Co-ed team.

Coed is horrible because the women want to play like men, but if they get fouled, it's a felony and their husband/boyfriend is usually playing or in the stands.

Games between races are the worst. Soccer City had leagues split up by races and it really brought the violence down. ISA isn't that smart.