Dirty TackleDTotD: Referee and linesman badly beaten during match in Chile
Prepare to fall off your seat in a catatonic state of shock: there has been some disgraceful on-field violence at a match in South America!
An amateur final match between Baquedano and Pablo Lizama in Melipilla, Chile was called off by the referee following repeated stoppages for rough play and interruptions from angry fans. Unhappy at the postponement, players and supporters (both male and female) proceeded to brutally attack the officials.
Things really start to kick off at [1.24] in the video above, when one of the Pablo Lizama players delivers a flying kick to the ref.
According to local English-language news site I Love Chile, one of the linesman lost several teeth in the brawl. Jorrit Smink, a former Baquedano coach, told the site:
“Unfortunately, football has too many players like this. In Holland, an assistant referee was murdered by some young players. The surprising thing is that the only people who work at FIFA are mafia types and complete idiots. That works from the top down.”
Smink may give a broadly accurate assessment of football's governing body, but the problem of unsportsmanlike violence seems particularly congenital to South America. Perhaps, therefore, it's an issue that CONMEBOL needs to take a tougher stance on.
This has been the Dirty Tackle of the Day: a chronicling of unfortunate events.
