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.”
READ MORE IN FOOTBALL
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.
Most read in Football
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.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
