A week after the attack on a referee in Seine-et-Marne, a new referee was attacked on Saturday April 2 in the Somme. The assault took place during a U17 District match between RC Salouël-Saleux and USOAAS Albert, revealed on Monday April 4 our colleagues from France 3 Hauts-de-France.
Theo Boucher, young 18-year-old referee, was insulted by a player and two supporters of the RC Salouël-Saleux club before being beaten up by a third player. The beatings were violent and caused a seven centimeter injury to his skull. Still according to France 3, Théo Boucher filed a complaint against the four people suspected of having insulted and hit him. The young referee, who had just completed his training as a central referee, officiated for the first time as a holder, that is to say for the first time alone on the field.
“From the start of the meeting, I noticed whistles coming from the stands. I heard some parents insulting me, challenging my decisions, it was very contemptuous,” tells Théo Boucher to our colleagues. At the end of the match, which ended in victory for theUSOAAS Albert (0-1), the referee was reviled by parents of Salouël players. The reason ? They do not support the defeat of their club at the end of this match, however without much stake. “Taking advantage of the scandal of the parents, one of the players started to insult me, he relates. I then gave him a post-match red card, I applied the rules.”
But the tone quickly rose. This sanction angered the player’s mother who slapped the referee. “And there, it went quite far, deplores Theo Boucher. Another supporter, who happens to be the sanctioned player’s older brother, then came and hit me on the head and on the back. Many witnesses told me that the ejected player came up behind me and pushed me, causing me to fall on my head. They also explained to me that a second Salouël player – I don’t know what got into him – also beat me up while I was on the ground.”
“We immediately decided to expel the two players”, asserted Antonio Dos Santos, president of RC Salouël-Saleux, who also indicated that these events were traced back to the disciplinary committee. If Théo Boucher said he had “cracked in front of the police” just after the attack and having wanted to stop the refereeing, the many supporters gave him confidence. “II want to find the land again. If I stopped today, I would prove my attackers right.” he concludes.