The shocking video went viral on Monday of a spectator yelling virulently at a soccer referee before rushing to kick him. The assailant is quickly tackled to the ground by other spectators, and the young referee quickly moves away.
The event took place on a synthetic field in Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Montreal, and would have taken place over the weekend. The game pitted the Celtix du Haut-Richelieu against a team from the borough of Saint-Laurent in the Provincial Development League, which replaced the old AAA circuit. It was a match between two men’s teams made up of young people under 14 years old.
In a press release, Soccer Quebec assured Monday that “the referees immediately ended the match as provided for in our regulations when their safety is threatened”. The organization also indicated that “verifications are underway to seize our disciplinary bodies”.
The director general of Soccer Quebec, Martin Chamberland, also specifies that a follow-up was carried out with the official attacked: “What was important for us in the first place was to make sure that the young referee was doing well in the circumstances. and that he was well surrounded”.
Québefoot media co-founder Claude-Hervé Diesse, who shared the video first, is also technical manager within the Celtix team. “It was a relative who sent her [la vidéo] to our staff, and we thought it was important to share it on a media like mine, ”he explained to the To have to.
According to the spokesperson for the Montreal Police Service, Mariane Allaire-Morin, no complaint of assault has been made to the police. “It’s as if it had passed through butter,” she says, not excluding that a complaint could however be formulated in the coming days. According to footage from the video, the referee appears to have taken at least one solid punch to the face.
The minister responsible for recreation and sport, Isabelle Charest, for her part condemned on Twitter the actions of the spectator at the origin of the attack. “This act of violence against a young referee must be denounced. Instead of attacking the referees, we should rather encourage them, ”she wrote.
Unacceptable! This act of violence against a young referee must be denounced. Instead of attacking the referees, we should rather encourage them. I call on all parents, let’s all be ambassadors of sportsmanship, violence is unacceptable, period! https://t.co/Mdt05uRQbx
—Isabelle Charest (@IsabelleCharest) May 9, 2022