Football referee shot dead after showing red card

The youth took a revolver from among his belongings, went back on the pitch and shot Flores several times.

An amateur footballer enraged by getting a red card in Argentina fetched a gun and fatally shot the referee on the pitch, police said Tuesday.

Cesar Flores, 48, was refereeing a match between local youth teams in the central city of Cordoba when he sent off the player for a foul.

The youth took a revolver from among his belongings, went back on the pitch and shot Flores several times, a police source told AFP.

According to media reports, Flores was shot three times — in the head, chest, and neck — by the player, who was seemingly angered with the red card decision.

Reports also stated the attacker is presently absconding, even as he is being hunted by the local police. A 25-year-old player was also shot in the chest during the attack, but is said to have survived and is recuperating at a local hospital. The referee died later in hospital, the source said.