I told you soccer was violent

[Hobbit]

This might go in the sports section, but I'm not sure. Feel free to move it.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/soccer/07/25/bc.crime.southafrica.soccer/index.html?cnn=yes

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -- A South African soccer referee pulled a gun and shot dead a coach who questioned one of his rulings, police said on Sunday.

Inspector Mali Govender of the Grahamstown police in the Eastern Cape province said a fight broke out after the referee gave a yellow warning card to a player in a local match on Saturday.

Now I've seen football games where I thought the fans would shoot the ref. There have been soccer games where the fans actually did shoot the ref (that's why many soccer refs wear a full suit of kevlar, helmet and all), but I've never seen a game where the ref shot a coach. That's just freaky.

After the Jackson "wardrobe malfunction," I kept hearing from ultralibs that kids didn't need to watch football anyway, because it was too violent (BS!). However, soccer was considered a perfectly safe "non-contact" sport. Well, what do you say now?

 

[dilloduck]

I say I'm glad my kid quit soccer LOL

 

[musicman]

Look at the bright side - this might be the dawn of a whole new era of civility in professional sports.

"Yes, sir - you're quite right. I failed to come down with both feet in bounds - no doubt about it. And - an excellent call, may I add?"

 

[nycflasher]

Interesting that the ref was packing heat at a match.

 

[Hobbit]

Interesting that the ref was packing heat at a match.

Not really. African and South American soccer refs are some of the least safe people in the world. FIFA eventually started issuing them bulletproof vests due to the high number of refs that had been shot at games. Before long, the fans' aims got better and they had to start giving them helmets, as well. If I was one of those refs (a job you couldn't pay me enough for), I would pack heat.

 

[nycflasher]

Not really. African and South American soccer refs are some of the least safe people in the world. FIFA eventually started issuing them bulletproof vests due to the high number of refs that had been shot at games. Before long, the fans' aims got better and they had to start giving them helmets, as well. If I was one of those refs (a job you couldn't pay me enough for), I would pack heat.

No doubt. I guess if your refs have to wear bulletproof vests, helmets and pack heat maybe the sport shouldn't be played... not at the FIFA level anyway.

 

[insein]

Why people get all worked up ove rthe dumbest of sports is beyond me. Football is the greatest sport in the world and i can't remember EVER getting so pissed that i wanted to physically harm a ref.

As bad a rap as philly fans get for being violent, this pales in comparison to the assholes that goto soccer games around the world.

 

[Merlin1047]

Well that's a twist on the usual sports story - rather like "Man bites shark". I have officiated football at the high school level for about twelve years. The only time we have trouble is when we travel to a school where the fans THINK they know the rules. Usually their education is limited to watching collegiate or professional football while they sit in the Lazyboy sucking down another Budweiser. There are numerous differences between high school rules and those used by colleges and the pros, everything from how the clock is run to pass interference criteria.

I have never been personally threatened, but I do carry a cannister of pepper spray. So far, it remains unused. It is a damning commentary on the conduct of some fans that my state, along with several others, has adopted laws which provide stiff sentences for assaulting a sports official.

 

[Big D]

Soccer is not violent, blacks are violent.

From the article:
Govender said the coach died on the field while the referee fled the scene. Police were confident of making an arrest soon, she added.

South Africa has one of the world's highest murder rates with an alarming 47.4 murders per 100,000 people, or eight times the figure for the United States.