Tragic ... US referee Ricardo Portillo died after being punched by a 17-year-old. Source: Frank Augstein / AFP
Ricardo Portillo's daughters had begged him to stop refereeing in a soccer league because of the growing risk of violence from angry players.
Now they're faced with planning his funeral after he succumbed to injuries late on Saturday that had put him in a coma for a week since a 17-year-old goalkeeper punched him in the head.
Authorities said the teen punched Portillo after the youth was called for a foul and issued a yellow car
"The suspect was close to Portillo and punched him once in the face as a result of the call," said police spokesman Justin Hoyal.
The suspect has been booked into juvenile detention on suspicion of aggravated assault. Police would consider additional charges since the 46-year-old Salt Lake City man had died. An autopsy was planned and no cause of death was released.
Portillo suffered swelling in his brain and had been listed in critical condition.
Daughter Johana Portillo, 26, said she wasn't at the April 27 game at Taylorsville, but had been told the player hit her father in the side of the head.
"When he was writing down his notes, he just came out of nowhere and punched him," she said.
The teenager was playing goalie during a game at Eisenhower Junior High School when Portillo issued him a yellow card for pushing an opposing forward trying to score.
The teenager began arguing with the referee, then punched him in the face. Portillo seemed fine at first, then asked to be held because he felt dizzy. He sat down and started vomiting blood, triggering his friend to call an ambulance.
When police arrived, the teenager was gone and Portillo was on the ground. Portillo told emergency workers his face and back hurt and he felt nauseous. He had no visible injuries and remained conscious. He was considered to be in fair condition when they took him to hospital.
But when Portillo arrived, he slipped into a coma with swelling in his brain. Johana Portillo called police when his condition worsened.
That's when detectives intensified their search for the goalie. By Saturday evening, the teenager's father agreed to bring him down to speak with police.
Portillo's family said he had been attacked before, and Johanna Portillo said she and her sisters had pleaded with him to stop refereeing because of the risk from angry players.
"It was his passion," she said. "We could not tell him no."
