Some referees also carry guns

Can the referee on the field carry a pistol on his belt? He can not. But someone did. Okay, the referee has to make himself respected, because there are constant discussions now, in Var time, let alone once.

It happened in Brazil, during a match between amateurs, “Brumandinho” against “Amantese de Vola”. There is nervousness on the pitch, the players give it a damn, the audience roars, the referee warns. He is pushed, he fears he will lose control of the race. So what does he do? Being a policeman, he remembers leaving the gun in the locker room. It all happens in an instant. Gabriel Murta, this is his name, leaves the pitch, goes back to where he had changed and there he is again in the field with the revolver.

It’s all a stampede. The players, listless and unwilling to run, run in a way never seen before. The few public scramble towards the exits. They are the two linesmen, with great courage, to convince Gabriel to leave it alone. The Brazilian Football Association suspends him. And he recommended a psychiatrist.

The second episode happened in Honduras at the end of an amateur match. The referee, accused of not having granted a penalty, is surrounded by some fans. And here he is, the man dressed in black, removing the gun from the belt that he, until then, he had hidden under his uniform. It is not necessary to pull the trigger at this point. They all run away and the referee goes back to the locker room.

The third episode is more controversial. It is told by the great Osvaldo Soriano (Mar del Plata 1943 – Buenos Aires 1997), first a footballer and then a journalist, in his “Thinking with your feet”. It is 1942. There is war in Europe and the World Cup is not organized.

Italy is reigning champion (it won it in 1938) but in Argentina, involved in the construction of a dam, there are immigrants from all over the world: Russians, Jews fleeing Germany, French, Spanish, Poles, English and Italians anti-fascists. They decide to organize a tournament. There is a referee to be found. He is identified as William Brett Cassidy, son of the outlaw Butch, who ended up in Patagonia after robbing banks and assaulting trains. He arrives with a friend and a girl (apparently she was engaged to both of them, they call themselves “the family of three”). The players, it is true, often enter the field drunk, sometimes armed with knives, some have pins to prick their opponents, others have chili powder to throw in the eyes of rivals. And he, the referee, asks and obtains from the organizers to bring the revolver on the field. The Germans, sure of winning, write to Hitler, telling them to prepare the celebrations. Instead they lose the final. Towards the end of the game, a frightening downpour arrives on the field. The audience flees, the players as well. And what does the referee do? He takes the cup, jumps on a horse and runs away, with his friend and girlfriend. What they have in common. –