A REFEREE has been left with a broken jaw and missing teeth after a brawl broke out during a football match in Australia.
Khoder Yaghi was officiating the Friday evening First Grade tie between Padstow Hornets and the Greenacre Eagles at Padstow Park in Sydney, Australia.
Yaghi was then filmed as a suspended player allegedly rushed him and attacked him.
In the video, the referee can be seen taking punches to the head as well as being dragged on to the field.
After the brawl was stopped Yaghi's bloodied mouth is viewable and he is thought to have suffered a broken jaw and lost some teeth.
As Yaghi staggers up he can be heard saying, "he broke my jaw."
The NSW Police have since confirmed that a 25-year-old man has been arrested and taken into custody.
He has been identified as a member of the Greenacre team and amateur boxer Adam Abdullah.
Yaghi has been recovering from the incident at Liverpool Hospital and is thought to be preparing to have reconstructive jaw surgery on Monday.
Greenacre Eagles released a statement following the incident in which it revealed it would be withdrawing the team from the rest of the season.IT read: "As a result of the incident that occurred following the conclusion of the match, our club has made the decision to withdraw the team from the competition for the remainder of the 2023 season.
"This serves as a reminder to all that violence will not be tolerated at our club."
While Football NSW insisted that it was aware of what happened and that there is "zero tolerance for any antisocial behaviour from any of its participants at any time."
Yaghi himself has also spoken about what happened as he told The Age, "I asked about a ground official to calm him down, but this guy carried on … and he jumped over the fence and ran straight towards us.
"[He] was swearing and abusing us badly for no reason. As he's approaching us, he put his hands up to start [a] fight … I tried to push him away with my [45cm] linesman's stick.
"But this guy starts running around and tries to get behind me, as he [knows] he can't get me face to face.
"As I was having arguments with another player, this guy came from behind me and attacked me. Straight on my face. With his hands and legs all on my head and face."
onaya
991
A big shame to all of you saying he deserved it or this should have happened to a referee in a league. Can you stand watching your dad being assaulted in public like that? I am sure his wife would be watching from the stand as well. For what reason? A football victory??? What is a game compared to a life? Do you know what a blow to the head can cause? Shame on all of you. You don't belong to be part of this beautiful game.
malablata
541
"But this guy starts running around and tries to get behind me, as he [knows] he can't get me face to face."..…Even with broken jaw the ref is still making mouth😂😂😂😂😂😂
lizbdmprs
437
That mother fucker must be sent to jail for twenty years and the team must not participate in any FIFA competition.... Expelled from the football ⚽ world 🌎🌎 and be fine a heavy some of money 💰💰💰... Bullshit
Ksm_city
315
So many EPL Referees deserves this…
onaya
11
some supporters talk yet their clubs get awarded more injury time minutes to draw and win games yet they can't win the league
Football games to me is not a do or die affair. We win, great! We lose, we feel bad and come back cheering again. This games should never worth the blood of a human being. If Arsenal wins the league by additional minutes, congratulates to the team. If they still lose the league to poor officiating, we air our feelings in a civilize way and return next year. Afterall 2 seasons ago we finished in 8th position. Last season we finished in 5th position losing the top 4 last slot to Spurs by a point. This season we are most likely finishing 2nd. There's nothing to kill anyone about after a bad result when we are alive to try again.