Soccer player Cristian Tirone arrested on field for attacking female ref

Tensions boiled over in an Argentinian soccer match on Sunday when a player ruthlessly punched an unsuspecting female official in the head.

Moments after being dealt a yellow card by referee Dalma Cortadi, Cristian Tirone – a footballer for the third division Club Deportivo Garmense in Argentina – was sent into a fit of rage. 

Despite several of his teammates’ best attempts to subdue the player, Tirone was able to evade them all as he made a beeline for Cortadi. Upon reaching the referee, whose back was turned to him, he unloaded a horrifying blow to her head that sent her tumbling to the ground.

Cortadi was able to get up immediately under her own power and evade her attacker before further damage could be done. Tirone was arrested by police on site moments after administering the punch, which sent his victim to the hospital. 

“This situation harms me at work since it makes me unable to work,” Cortadi told Olé News. “Now I must be strong. The blows left me sore. 

“You have to kick him out forever. He should never be in any club. He is a violent person. He must also be in his daily life. I saw it on the video: a normal person does not do what this man did. No person deserves this. We don’t go to the [matches] to be beaten. I hope he pays for what he did.”

Cortadi remained in the hospital for several hours following the attack but was later released with only scrapes and bruises.

The match was suspended immediately after the assault and Tirone’s club issued a statement shortly after the disturbing events. 

“Given the events that occurred this Sunday during the Third Division football match that was played in the city of Adolfo Gonzales Chaves between Garmense and Independencia, during which a player from Garmense physically attacked the woman who officiated as referee, the Club expresses its energetic repudiation of this action that is at odds with the spirit that is intended to instill with the practice of this sport,” Club Deportivo Garmense said.

Cortadi has filed criminal charges against Tirone, who has been suspended for life by the soccer league.