I was watching The Most on The History Channel today and they mentioned the greatest soccer (football) disaster in history was the riot during the 1964 Olympic Qualifier between Peru and Argentina where 300+ people were killed and 500+ injured.
The show mentioned that after the investigation it was determined that the referee was at fault for the riot when he disallowed the game tying score by Peru in the 88th minute.
A quick google search turned up numerous references to the match, however, all they mention is “The Referee” and never give his name or fate.
I am curious, who was the referee? And what happened to him?
I can’t answer the OP’s question, but this incident may have been the inspiration for Arthur C. Clarke’s delightful short story A Slight Case of Sunstroke.
In a nutshell the story:
[spoiler]describes a fictional soccer match somewhere in South America between two fircely rival countries, where the refs were routinely bribed by one country or the other. Things got to be so bad that the refs were running around on the field in body armor.
Anyway, at this particular match, one entire end of the stadium was taken up by military men from the host country, each of whom had been issued a gaudy, foil-backed program.
At an agreed-upon point in the game, the entire military contingent used the foil backing of the program to focus the sun on the referee, who was instantly incinerated. Chaos and rioting ensue. [/spoiler]
I’d have to check the publication date to be sure. It is possible the story predates the 1964 incident.
(I just checked. The copyright on the story is 1958. Life imitates art!)
…and for more (and very delightful) reading on the history of soccer with a focus on Latin America, read Soccer in Sun and Shadow by Eduardo Galeano.
Beautiful even if you´re not a soccer fan - and if you are, well…
