Police in rural Brazil have detained one man and were seeking two others after a referee was beheaded by spectators for stabbing a player to death mid-match.
Officer Valter Costa, who was heading the investigation into the June 30 murders, said police have detained Luis Moraes Souza, 27.
Souza is suspected of hitting the referee over the head and smashing a glass bottle on his face, while his brother, Francisco, is among the two still being sought, as reported on ESPN.
Angered by the expulsion, Abreu threw Silva to the ground but as the referee got up, he pulled a knife and stabbed the player in the chest, Costa said, and Abreu died on the way to the hospital.
The referee was then tied up by spectators, beaten, stoned and quartered, before his head was put on a stake and planted in the middle of the pitch.
Costa said violence was unusual in Centro de Meio, a remote rural community with little crime, and that those involved in the slayings were all from neighbouring towns.
Paulo Storani, a professor and security expert who spent three decades in Rio’s police forces, called the slayings “an isolated incident” and said they don’t reflect on Brazil’s ability to ensure security at during the World Cup.
He said: “It’s something that’s completely out of the ordinary which took place in an isolated area of the poorest state in the country, an area where violence is very widespread.
“While it’s true we are used to soccer violence in Brazil, this is completely off the charts of what we usually see.”
