Soccer Player Charged With Attempted Murder After Kicking Referee In The Head

A Brazilian soccer player faces attempted murder charges after kicking a referee in the head during a lower league match.

Sport Club Sao Paulo player William Ribeiro lashed out at the official after receiving a foul. The game was halted while the referee was loaded onto an ambulance and taken to the hospital, where he was later released.

A local law enforcement officer said after the attach: “I decided … to charge the lad with attempted murder because, in my perception of the case, he took the risk of a lethal outcome.”

Sport Club Sao Paulo, celebrating its 113th anniversary, called the incident “one of the saddest in its history,” and immediately fired Ribeiro afterwards.

The club hails from Rio Grande, a small Brazilian city of about 200,000 people.