A soccer referee from Salt Lake City, Utah was out on the field, going about his everyday work when he called out a foul on one of the teenage players and issued him a yellow card. Enraged, the 17-year old soccer player punched the referee in the face, which caused him to slip into a coma and tragically died on Sunday.
Ricardo Portillo, 46, passed away at the hospital, where he was being treated following the violent attack on April 27, a police spokesman confirmed to the Associated Press.
Portillo's daughters had often pleaded with their father to stop refereeing the recreational Hispanic soccer league as the soccer players had become increasingly more violent and were lashing out on the referees.
The teenager, who put Portillo in the coma and ultimately caused his death, has not been identified as he is a minor. The suspect was goalie the day the fateful accident occurred and has been booked into juvenile detention. The incident seems to have been sparked by a call made by the referee during a corner kick, according to a police report obtained by The Salt Lake City Tribune.
"The suspect was close to Portillo and punched him once in the face as a result of the call," according to a Greater Salt Lake police release.
Hoyal said authorities will consider additional charges since the 46-year-old Salt Lake City man has died.
As a result of the attack, Portillo suffered swelling in his brain and had been listed in critical condition, Dr. Shawn Smith said Thursday at the Intermountain Medical Center in the Salt Lake City suburb of Murray.
Portillo's daughter, Johana, 26, said she wasn't at the game which took place in the suburb of Taylorsville, but witnessed told her that the player hit her father in the side of the head.
"When he was writing down his notes, he just came out of nowhere and punched him," she said.
This wasn't the first time Portillo had been injured while officiating a game, his daughter said.
"Five years ago, a player upset with a call broke his ribs," the AP reported Friday. "A few years before that, a player broke his leg, she said. Other referees have been hurt, too."
