According to multiple reports from Maranhão, match referee Octavio da Silva Catanhede Jordan allegedly stabbed Josenir dos Santos Abreu to death after an argument with the player during a game on June 30.
The 20-year-old referee reportedly had a knife with him at the match and attacked Santos Abreu. The 31-year-old footballer was pronounced dead on arrival by a local hospital.
What subsequently happened was more appalling.
After witnessing the horrific attack, family and friends of the player reportedly invaded the pitch to lynch the referee, who was gruesomely quartered and decapitated by the mob, which later hung his head on a stake.
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I think it's safe to classify this as "taking things a bit too seriously."