A dusty soccer field in rural Brazil, the kind where shirts vs. shirtless defines the teams, was supposed to host a friendly match. But on one fateful day in June 2013, what began as a casual game ended in an unimaginable double tragedy that shocked a nation.
Nineteen-year-old Otávio Jordão da Silva Cantanhede, carrying a hidden knife, started the game as a player. After an injury, he took on the role of referee. The game took a dark turn when Otávio issued a red card to a friend and occasional teammate, 30-year-old Josemir Santos Abreu. What followed was a heated argument that quickly escalated into a fatal fight. Otávio tragically stabbed Josemir, who later died at the hospital.
The horror didn’t end there. Fuelled by alcohol, drugs, and a frenzied crowd, at least four of Josemir’s friends exacted a brutal revenge. Otávio was tied up, savagely beaten with bottles and a wooden stake, run over by a motorcycle, and stabbed in the throat. But the violence reached a level of depravity that horrified even seasoned investigators. Authorities reported Otávio was dismembered, his legs and an arm severed, and finally, decapitated. His head was left on a fence post across the road from the field.
The regional police chief, Valter Costa dos Santos, confessed, “I didn’t think human beings had such perverseness to do this.” While the incident occurred during a soccer match, sociologists emphasized that this wasn’t about football violence. Instead, it was a chilling manifestation of the broader issue of extreme violence prevalent in Brazil, turning a simple game into a scene of unspeakable horror.
Source: https://www.themirror.com/news/world-news/soccer-referee-beheaded-red-card-1586941
