"Mothers are sacred"

Hobby footballer kicks referee into hospital

The accused (right) received moral support from his son. He is studying and doesn't need a translator. It wasn't just the young man who had to shake his head.(Bild: HS, Krone KREATIV)

Trial in Eisenstadt: Because his deceased mother was allegedly insulted and the referee did nothing about it, a footballer in a lower league broke his ankle. Just like that. 

It was the 53rd minute of the reserve match between SV-Lackenbach and SV Steinberg-Dörfl in Burgenland. The score is 8:1: A defending youngster from Dörfl, only 55 years old, pushes an opponent over from behind.

"I said Hu...kind (vulgar term, disguised, note) to him," said the Lackenbach number 16 at the trial in Eisenstadt. And the decisive match picked up speed.

Red card after verbal altercation
"No. I think it was your mother," says the Turkish-born man, who has been an Austrian citizen for "I don't know exactly how long". In any case, the interpreter translates well.

Because the offended party - "in our country, mothers are sacred" - had threatened to punch the verbal offender, he was shown a yellow card by referee Hermann Felber. Garnished with the words: "If you don't shut up, you're going to the showers." The sportsman continued to complain, so he was sent off.

44 days in a plaster cast
"I had everything under control," said the defendant, who took the momentum and took the referee's left ankle with his right full instep. A clean break! The game was abandoned and Felber spent 44 days in bed in a recumbent cast. 50 thrombosis injections later, the 61-year-old was at least able to drive again.

Reading the newspaper in the dock
The culprit followed the proceedings with a strange permanent grin. In between, he leafed through a newspaper in the dock. "Are you that bored?" asked Melanie Gschiel, the chairwoman of the jury panel. Scowling, he stopped.

The sentence - 18 months conditional imprisonment, a fine of 1800 euros and 6078 euros in damages for the unfortunate, faultless referee - is not legally binding. The Burgenland Football Association had already banned the kicker for 60 matches. At 58, he is allowed to kick again - even against the ball.