Argentine referee shot, killed by dismissed footballer

A referee shows a red card during a Copa Sudamericana match in Argentina in 2014.

A referee in Argentina was shot and killed by a player who he had just dismissed, according to local reports.

Cesar Flores was officiating an amateur match in Cordoba, around 700 kilometers northwest of Buenos Aires, when he showed an unnamed player a red card. The incensed player took a gun from his bag and returned to the pitch, shooting the 48-year-old referee three times, in the neck, head and chest.

"It all happened during the match," a police source told the EFE news agency. "We don't know what happened with the referee, but the player was angry and went to get his gun and killed him."

The suspect is still at large.

Another player was also "seriously injured" in the shooting but it is understood his wounds are not life-threatening.


Latin America has experienced on-field soccer violence in the past.

Last year a referee in an amateur Brazilian match pulled a gun on a player who had assaulted him, and in 2013 a player was stabbed by a referee during an expulsion. The official was then kidnapped and tortured by fans, before being stoned to death and dismembered by members of the player's family.