Referee dies after getting punched by player

A referee has died following a week in coma after he was punched by a teenage footballer during a match.

Ricardo Portillo passed away on Saturday evening at the Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City due to swelling on his brain.

Treatment was needed when the 46-year-old match official was assaulted in the head by a teenage player after he was booked by Portillo during a local match on April 27, police have confirmed.

The 17-year-old in question has been taken into juvenile detention on alleged aggravated assault.

Written by
Danielle Joynson