This time, though, the soccer world is not laughing. It’s not every day you see a fist fight break out on the soccer field, and when you do it’s usually among players. In this Argentinian soccer match, it was the referee who got involved.
According to Buzz.ie, the startling footage is from a match between Argentinian sides Ocampo Fabrica and Huracan, and the brawl begins when referee Alexis Meza appears to give Carlos Godoy his second yellow card for a reckless tackle.
The madness begins at the 5:05 mark in the video, when it appears some smack talk was exchanged between Meza and Godoy. Meza then reached into his pocket to pull out a yellow card, and all hell broke lose.
Almost as soon as the card was raised, Godoy threw a succession of wild haymakers at Meza. Amazingly, Meza channelled his inner Floyd Mayweather, ducking and weaving the attacks—leaving his opponent to swing at nothing but air. But after a few errant punches from the angry player, Meza had enough and threw a couple shots of his own—though only one appears to have connected.
While rare, it’s an unfortunate reality that all referees (in every sport) have to face the threat of violence from time to time. Normally, you never see the official fight back, but you have to tip your hat to Meza for standing up for himself.
If the above video wasn’t violent enough, take a look at this video from 2011, which shows two Argentinian teams beating up a referee because of a call.
