El Salvadoran Soccer Match Turns Violent, Ref Dies over Red Card

An amateur soccer match in El Salvador turned deadly after players and fans attacked a referee for issuing a red card.

Jose Arnoldo Amaya was officiating a match at Toluca Stadium in Miramonte when an aggressive player, whom the U.S. Sun described as "a hooligan," became enraged because Amaya had given him a second yellow card.

The player, his teammates, and fans quickly descended upon Amaya, beating him so viciously that he had to be transported to a hospital where doctors discovered significant internal bleeding. Amaya later died from his injuries.

Jose Arnoldo Amaya (photo courtesy of Cuatro)

Salvadoran Football Federation president Hugo Carillo has condemned the violence and expressed hope for justice:

“As a Federation, we repudiate what happened to referee Jose Arnoldo Amaya. And we trust that the authorities can find those responsible for taking the referee’s life.”

Our sincerest condolences to Amaya's friends and family and our most ardent condemnation of the behavior that resulted in his death. Amaya had been a referee for twenty years when he died. He was 63 years old.