Читать книгу Unforgettable Soccer - Luciano Wernicke - Страница 22

It is unlikely there was ever a penalty call that was not protested. If the players don’t complain, the coaches do. The fans, of course, always complain. But without doubt, the most unparalleled protest was the unusual revenge that a Yugoslav league soccer player attempted to exact from referee Platon Rejinac in 1965. Rejinac had dared to call the maximum penalty possible against Fudbalski Klub Crvena Zvezda Beograd (Red Star of Belgrade) just one minute from the end of the match and with the score tied. While ten of the players surrounded Rejinac to insult the honor of his entire family, the eleventh member of the victimized team left the field through a side door in apparent calm. However, what seemed like cool apathy soon turned into madness: The player got behind the wheel of his car, drove into the stadium, destroying the fence in the process, and began to chase the referee across the field in an attempt to run him over. After a few minutes of astonishing tension, the incensed player was subdued by the police and eventually sentenced to two years in prison for “attempted homicide.” Humorously, the soccer association of Yugoslavia only suspended the player for two years.