This Week In Soccer Fisticuffs: Players And Referees Throw Punches

A referee punched a player in Kuwait and a high school player here in the States punched a ref; it's been a busy week here at the People-Punching-Each-Other-While-Playing-Soccer Desk. Let's get down to business.

First, above, we have referee-on-player violence. Normally when you think of altercations between a player and an official, the player is almost always the party that loses its cool. Not so in Kuwait. This dude punches a player (in maroon) after basically the entire team gets in his face to contest a call. In the referee's defense, the players really converged on him pretty quickly and aggressively, so he punched a guy. Then they converged some more and he kicked another guy. Then he showed someone a red card. Then he shows a bunch of other guys a red card. I especially enjoy this one because it looks like the guy who was punched flops to ground. Good times.

Our second altercation is the more traditional player-on-official violence. What spices it up a bit is that it's high school—Chicago's Prosser Career Academy ( notable alums include a morning zoo DJ named Freak and a freak named John Wayne Gacy)—and the kid punched the referee twice, once in the head, during a playoff game.

With two minutes left in a 1-1 game, the student was verbally abusive and cursed out the referee for not calling a foul before graduating to physical abuse. The match was immediately called and Prosser forfeited the game.

Said Illinois High School Association executive director Marty Hickman:

“Game officials deserve to be treated with the highest levels of respect by coaches, players, administrators and fans. Unfortunately, though, they are subject to far more scrutiny than is warranted. As this happens and perspective is lost, the value of the interscholastic experience is diminished and ruined.”

Prosser Soccer Player Punches Referee in Head During Playoff, IHSA Says [DNAInfo Chicago]