An Italian referee was reportedly removed from a Champions League tie this week for allegedly threatening to kill a player during a match.
Fabio Maresca was due to be the fourth official for Tuesday night’s clash between PSV Eindhoven and Sporting CP, but was replaced by Daniele Doveri, who assisted his Italian colleagues Marco Guida, Ciro Carbone and Giorgio Peretti in the Netherlands.
The 1-1 draw went off without incident, but Maresca may now be at risk of being banned from Serie A matches for a month.
Referee 'threatened to kill player'
The incident regarding Maresca came during a Kuwait Premier League match that the 43-year-old took charge of between Al-Arabi and Kuwait SC on Friday.
According to Corriere della Sera, Maresca confronted Khaled Al Murshed after the player collided with him, with the official reportedly believing not to be an accident.
Al Murshed claimed that Maresca told him: ‘see you next time, I'll kill you’, although the report adds that another player believes the official said ‘see you next time’ with no further remark.
While Maresca could face punishment from the Italian authorities, he looks set to face any sanction in Kuwait because the incident was dealt with via ‘on-field diplomacy’.
Maresca has courtest controversy in the past, sending Antonio Conte off in 2021 while the former Chelsea and Spurs coach was in charge of Inter Milan.
This led to Conte confronting Maresca, reportedly shouting sarcastically: “It’s always you, Maresca. It’s always you. Even in the VAR, it's always you Maresca. Well done, Maresca.”
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Conte was then banned for two matches and fined £16,700.
Maresca has been refereeing since 2011 and has overseen European and international matches since 2018.
