Referees beginning to defend themselves on the football pitch.....b

[Richard G.]

www.soccernet.com


No regrets for ref who attacked fan
 
 
RIO DE JANEIRO, March 14 (Reuters) - A Brazilian referee said he had no regrets after punching a fan who ran onto the field to attack him during a derby match on Sunday.
Television pictures showed that Luiz Carlos Silva landed several punches at the shirtless supporter who invaded the field in injury time of Sunday's America-Atletico Mineiro derby in Belo Horizonte.


'Everything I did yesterday, I did conscientiously and I would do it again,' Silva told Brazilian media on Monday. 'I'm a self-employed worker and if that guy had landed a punch, I could have been off work when I've got five children to raise.'

'I had to defend myself and I did it by going onto the attack.

'If I had run away, it would have looked bad. I was not prepared to suffer this embarrassment with my children watching (on the television).'

The incident sparked a five-minute brawl as Atletico Mineiro players tried to protect the supporter from the police.

Atletico goalkeeper Danrlei accused police of attacking him as he tried to intervene.

The match was in the Mineiro (Minas Gerais state) championship, one of the many regional tournaments which kick off the Brazilian season. America won 1-0 in a game which also produced three red cards.

Meanwhile, Atletico launched another protest against refereeing in the competition and repeated demands for referees from outside Minas Gerais state to officiate their games.

[mcaw]

I think this whole situatuion wil anders frisk is being blown way outa proportion

[Saltanfresh]

It sounds like you, long time no see my brudah! Hope you are doing well, is your old Houghton College foe.......

[mcaw]

 Chelsea's Didier Drogba has made a public apology to Anders Frisk who quit refereeing over death threats following incidents in the Champions League match at Barcelona last month.
 
Didier Drogba: Everyone makes mistakes. (BenRadford/GettyImages)
 
Drogba was sent off early in the second half of his team's 2-1 defeat at the Nou Camp for a second bookable offence and Chelsea boycotted the post-match news conference.


'I would like to apologise to Mr Frisk if I might have, in any way, prompted him to end his refereeing career,' the Ivory Coast striker told French television channel TF1 on Sunday.

'I really hope he will change his mind. Soccer needs great referees and Mr Frisk is one of them.

'Everyone makes mistakes and referees are human, we have to accept that', he added.

Frisk retired after receiving death threats from fans following criticism by Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho over his handling of the knockout-round first-leg tie.

Mourinho said his Barcelona counterpart Frank Rijkaard had talked to Frisk at halftime in the match.

Chelsea won the second leg 4-2 in London on March 8 to claim a place in the quarter-finals with a 5-4 aggregate victory.

Frisk announced his retirement four days later, saying he and his family had received death threats. The move caused furore in the European game, with Mourinho being branded 'an enemy of football' by UEFA refereeing chief Volker Roth.

The Swede said on Saturday he would not go back on his decision despite efforts by UEFA and the game's worldwide body FIFA to persuade him to change his mind.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, Frisk described the period after the game in Barcelona as 'the worst 16 days of my life'.

Without naming Mourinho directly, Frisk was quoted as saying: 'He violated my integrity.

'When you attack something that is so important to refereeing and so important to my culture, as well as to this fantastic hobby I have had for the last 26 years, of course you (inflict) hurt.'