They take soccer seriously in Brazil

[Gob]

The barely believable incident happened in Maranhao, Brazil, last Sunday.

According to reports in Brazil, referee Otavio Jordao da Silva (20) fatally stabbed footballer Josenir dos Santos Abreu (30) during a heated moment of a match.

Santos Abreu is believed to have argued and then struck the referee after being unhappy with a decision.

It is believed the referee was carrying a knife throughout the match and fatally stabbed the player in retaliation.

Santos Abreu was rushed to hospital but died from injuries on the way.

Outraged by the incident, some spectators then apparently decided to inflict a gruesome revenge on the referee.

According to reports, the referee was tied up, beaten, stoned and quartered. They then put his head on a stake and planted it in the middle of the pitch.

One man, Luiz Moraes de Souza, 27, has been arrested over the incident. He has admitted to assaulting the referee but denied killing the man. Police are searching for two more suspects.

They are currently viewing video footage of the incident filmed by a witness with a mobile phone.

In a statement, the regional delegate of Santa Ines, Valter Costa, who is looking after the case, said: "One crime never justifies another crime. Actions likes this do not collaborate with the legality of state law."

[Lord Jim]

Why hadn't the ref been immediately taken into custody after the stabbing?

Why was he still hanging around where these savages could get a hold of him?

[Crackpot]

Stand your ground law

[Gob]

Why was he still hanging around where these savages could get a hold of him?

There was match on?

[Sean]

The ball was still in play. This isn't NFL where they stop the game for every little incident...
The stabbing counts as a red card and the senior linesman would have taken over refereeing duties.

[Crackpot]

Bullshit they stop a game if a guy stubbs his toe.

[Sean]

Maybe, but a fatal injury means that the player would be unlikely to be able to carry on so a substitute would've been brought on immediately. There are some things which are beyond even the magic sponge!

[Gob]

The ref was too busy issuing red cards to stop for such a minor thing as a beheading.

[Lord Jim]

I would have thought that after he stabbed the first player to death, that it might have had a salutary effect on the level of good sportsmanship of the others....

[Joe Guy]

That referee was no great loss.

Soccer requires an official that has his head on straight.

[dales]

The Next Olympic Games In Brazil Should Be A Real Hoot!

[MajGenl.Meade]

The ref will be a shoo-in for the Special Games

[rubato]

This could bring a whole new dimension to professional sports.

Boxing referees with knobkerries? Baseball umpires with brass knuckles? Football referees with sidearms?

A new stat column too. Fatalities/season.

yrs,
rubato

[oldr_n_wsr]

A new stat column too. Fatalities/season.

I think the NFL already has that stat.

[Lord Jim]

I think the NFL already has that stat.

Not yet, but here's one for you:

How Does Your Team Rank On The NFL Player Arrests Chart?

by Rick Chandler | 4:05 pm, June 28th, 2013

Having trouble keeping track of all the NFL players who have been arrested lately? Sure, we all are. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, there have been 29 NFL players arrested since the Super Bowl — a staggering number for a five-month span … and for a five-year span, actually.

But which teams have the most offenders? A Reddit user from Germany, Mario Wolf, crunched some stats and came up with some interesting data visualization, which we show you via Business Insider. He tracked the number of NFL arrests since 2000 (most of them by Pacman Jones), and charted and graphed the hell out of them. Of course most were by Pacman Jones, spread over several teams. I found the one below to be the most colorful, which means that it must be important. And actually it is informative.

Our winner? Of course it’s the Bengals and Vikings, in a dead heat with 40 arrests each since 2000.



The Houston Texans and St. Louis Rams have the least, with nine each. And even though they dominate the crime news this week, New England “only” has 15, ranking the Patriots tied for 23rd, with Dallas.

OK, now let’s look at the arrests by position. Yep, cornerbacks. You’d think they’d be faster and more elusive.



Now, by division.



In my opinion the NFC West should receive home field advantage in the playoffs based on the above.

It should be noted that NFL arrests have actually declined since 2006: although the recent flurry of them have 2013 looking to make a comeback.

http://www.sportsgrid.com/nfl/how-does- ... sts-chart/

[oldr_n_wsr]

And to think there are only about 1500-2000 men players in the league each year.

[Lord Jim]

And they ain't exactly scrapin' by on minimum wage....