VIOLENCE IN SPORTS : WHY DOES A MAN HAVE TO DIE FOR A SOCCER GAME?

 

Violence in sports is becoming more prevalent.  It has  usually been observed between eager fans rather than between players and personnel, although no sport or match should justify violence.

But what is becoming more dangerous is that even parents at little league matches, or players at second hand games, are now becoming so intolerant that they will kill just because they do not disagree with the outcome of their play.

Take the case this week of referee Ricardo Portillo, a father and husband who has died following a punch delivered by a player unhappy with his call.  

He was so severely injured, that he spent a week in a coma before succumbing to his injuries. 

And this is not major league, mind you.  This is a recreational soccer league game.  

The youth who delivered the punch was 17 years old.  

The incident began when Portillo who was refereeing a high school game in Salt Lake City, showed a yellow card to the 17 year old for shoving an opponent during play.  

After an argument ensued, the teenager punched Portillo in the face. Portillo soon after collapsed and started vomiting.  He was transported to the hospital with severe swelling of the brain.  

The daughter of Portillo has said that her father was not new to on-field violence.  He had been injured before, at the hand of other players, multiple times during the years he served as a referee.  He has had his ribs broken, and his legs crushed.

Portillo's daughter blames in part the parents of the player who incite their children with insults and chants that inflame the young players.

It is not the first time, nor it will be the last.  Violence in small league or amateurial leagues is nothing new and it will continue until someone decides to stop the whole culture of parents who are out of control at the sidelines.  There is no reason why parents must drive in their children's mind the notion that they can do no wrong.  

So another men has died, for a mere soccer game. No sporting event should end in violence, but it often does.

If this is where we are headed, we are in a lot of trouble.  A culture of violence is a culture that feed on violence itself.  

OP-ED

Partial source : BBc 5.6.13