Referee haters, you have a new hero, though nobody really wanted to see something like this. But now we know what can happen what a player goes after a ref. Everybody goes home early. Everybody goes home mad.
That’s what happened after former Brazil international defender Luisao, a mainstay for Benfica in Portugal, sent referee Christian Fischer to his back near the mid-point of a Sunday friendly against Fortuna Dusseldorf. The match was almost immediately abandoned, with the officiating crew walking off the field.
Luisao, Benfica’s captain, ran to protest an impending card to Javi Garcia, the Spanish midfielder having slid through the back of a Fortuna player. The veteran defender got too close, went cheat-to-cheat with Fischer and …
And that’s where the hypothetical sniper from the stands took over, Fischer collapsing as if he got clocked in the temple.
At first the incident looked serious, with Fischer laid sprawled on the ground, motionless. Within seconds, however, Fischer’s up and leading his crew from the pitch, showing the same amazing powers of recuperation very soccer hater attributes to players.
Take a look:
Let’s go through the range of possible, reasonable judgments for each man.
Luisao: Best case scenario, the guy misjudged the distance between himself and Fischer and should be red carded. Worst case scenario, he intentionally ran into the official and should be red carded.
Fischer: Best case scenario, he was momentarily stunned, couldn’t believe what had just happened, and (once he gathered his wits) made a rash decision to abandon the match. He should have just had Luisao escorted off.
Worst case scenario, Fischer is the bad guy … which is remarkable, considering somebody just decked a referee.