A punch in the face! A referee for a recreational soccer league has died after he was punched in the face by a player who didn’t like his decision, Salt Lake City police said.
Ricardo Portillo, 46, was refereeing a game in the Salt Lake City suburb of Taylorsville on April 27 when he cited a teenage player for an infraction and issued him a “yellow card.” The decision, police say, prompted the 17-year-old player to turn around and punch Portillo in the face.
At first, authorities thought Portillo suffered only minor injuries from the assault.
But after he was taken to a hospital, doctors discovered he had suffered serious internal head injuries, police said.
For seven days, he remained in critical condition.
He loved soccer,” his daughter Johana Portillo told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Friday. “We just never thought this was going to happen. He loved what he did and it was his passion.”
On Saturday night, Portillo died from his injuries.
Authorities will conduct an autopsy.