A tragic story occurred out in Utah, as a soccer referee has died after being punched by a teenage player during a recreational soccer game after he disputed one of the refs calls, leaving him in a coma before he passed away.
According to the Associated Press, 46-year-old Ricardo Portillo passed away while in the hospital over the weekend after being put in a coma from the punch. The report was confirmed by Unified police spokesman Justin Hoyal on Saturday and the press release said that the referee made a call that upset the player, resulting in the player punching Portillo and putting him in a coma.
The report says that the police are accusing a 17-year-old player in the league of punching the referee after he made a foul call and gave a yellow card in the match. The name of the assailant has not been released due to his age and the police said that he was booked into juvenile detention after the incident on suspicion of aggravated assault and the charges could get worse after the death of the referee. An autopsy will be performed and doctors said that Portillo had swelling in his brain while in the hospital.
Johana Portillo, who is 26-years-old, told the Associated Press that she was not present at the game on April 27th when the incident occurred in Salt Lake City and said that she was told that Portillo was punched in the side of the head by the player. She mentioned that her father was writing his notes about the foul when he was punched. According to the AP, the assailant was playing goalie at the time and is described as heavier than the referee.
The report describes and argument between the two after the foul during the game, which was being played at Eisenhower Junior High School in Taylorsville and the foul was for pushing a forward on the other time while he was trying to score. After getting punched, the referee was able to stand up, but soon after he was dizzy and vomited blood before being taken to the hospital and when he made it there he slipped into a coma.
