Argentine footballer arrested after punching female referee during match

By Matias Grez, Pilar Leonardi and Hugo Correa, CNN

Updated 0839 GMT (1639 HKT) August 3, 2022

An Argentine footballer was arrested after punching female referee during a match.

(CNN)An Argentine football player was arrested after punching a female referee in the back of the head during a match between Deportivo Garmense and Deportivo Independencia in a regional league in Buenos Aires.

In interviews with local media outlets, referee Dalma Magali Cortadi said she had awarded a foul against Garmense player Cristian Tirone — who a police source and a Garmense source told CNN was the aggressor — who then began to verbally abuse her.As a result, Cortadi says she decided to show Tirone a red card, at which point he ran up behind Cortadi and struck her in the back of the head, causing her to fall to the ground.In video footage of the incident, Tirone had to then be forcibly pushed away from Cortadi by two of her officials, before being escorted off the pitch by several police officers.As a result of the attack, Cortadi had to be taken to a local hospital, and once she was discharged, she made a criminal complaint against Tirone.Read MoreCNN has tried to contact Tirone via the police, but has so far been unsuccessful.The police source told CNN that Tirone is being held at a police station in De La Gama, the town where the attack occurred. The player is incommunicado, the source said, and it is expected that he will be transferred to the Prosecutor's Office to give his statement.After giving his statement, it will be determined whether or not he is detained and what the charges against him will be, the police source told CNN.William Ribeiro: Brazilian footballer charged with attempted murder after kicking referee in the headIn a