Top 5 Attacks On Match Officials!

Atletico Madrid’s Arda Turan somehow escaped a red card last night after firing his boot at an assistant referee.

The fiery Turk is not the first player to become embroiled in clashes with match officials, and won’t be the last. Here’s a look at some more from down the years.

Paolo Di Canio
The controversial Italian wasn’t happy with referee Paul Alcock for sending him off for Sheffield Wednesday. Not happy at all. So he decided to push the official over, resulting in a hefty fine and an 11-match ban.

Ashley Barnes
Fast forward to about 50 seconds in to catch Ashley Barnes inexplicably tripping up ref Nigel Miller during a Brighton clash with Bolton. Unfortunately for Barnes, Miller is a former policeman who promptly sent him off. Barnes later got a seven game ban for his moment of madness.

Johnny Dos Santos
South American football is fiery enough without players launching vicious assaults on referees. Johnny Dos Santos gained notoriety in Brazil – and was sacked by his club – after this karate kick on the middleman for adding four minutes of injury time.

Petros
This attack in Brazil isn’t as straightforward with Corinthians midfielder Petros initially claiming he’s bumped into the referee. He later conceded he’d barged him out of the way after being unhappy that the official had blocked one of his team-mates earlier. He was banned for six months.

Leandro Schiavi
Last but certainly not least, Argentinian referee Dario Fuenes was lucky to escape relatively unscathed following a vicious kick to the face from Leandro Schiavi. The Huracan player and two of his team-mates were banned for six years for their parts in the incident.