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🇦🇷 Argentina /Sports

Player punches assistant referee during senior football match

From La Nación · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Under investigation
  • A San Miguel player allegedly punched assistant referee Pablo Valles during a senior league match against Racing in Sarandí, Argentina.
  • The referee suspended the 3-3 match in the 23rd minute of the second half and referred the incident to the league’s disciplinary tribunal.
  • The Senior Argentine Football League condemned the violence and said its board and club delegates would take regulatory action.

A senior football match in Argentina descended into chaos after a San Miguel player ran toward assistant referee Pablo Valles and punched him in the face. Valles fell to the ground and could not get up for several minutes.

The incident occurred during a tense 3-3 match between San Miguel and Racing in the Senior Argentine Football League at Racing’s Tita Mattiussi training complex in Sarandí, Avellaneda. Twenty-three minutes into the second half, a San Miguel player kicked a Racing footballer in the lower stomach while trying to stop him from advancing with the ball.

It is a football match. We try to make everything work so people can come and have a good time and enjoy themselves. This kind of thing should not happen again.

· RefereeThe referee condemned the physical assault and the disruption of the match.

The Racing player went down, and Valles raised his flag and blew his whistle to signal a foul. Another San Miguel player then ran toward the assistant and struck him. A San Miguel player pulled the attacker away, while players on the field called for him to be sent off. A doctor working at the match fetched medical equipment to treat Valles.

Even if we make a mistake, an involuntary one, it does not justify any physical action.

· RefereeHe said an officiating error could not justify violence.

The referee stopped the game and reported the assault to the disciplinary tribunal. He said Valles was “quite badly hit” and that officials were considering calling an ambulance. “It is a football match. We try to make everything work so people can come and have a good time and enjoy themselves. This kind of thing should not happen again,” the referee said in comments to Racing Radio Club. “Even if we make a mistake, an involuntary one, it does not justify any physical action.”

The league issued a statement expressing its “strongest condemnation” of the violence involving San Miguel. It said the board, working with delegates from all clubs in the division, would take the appropriate regulatory measures.

The Senior Argentine Football League expresses its strongest condemnation of the acts of violence committed yesterday by San Miguel.

· Senior Argentine Football LeagueThe league statement addressed the incident and promised regulatory measures.
About this summary

Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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