It’s pretty hard for anybody to defend the sport of soccer these days due to the ridiculous things that take place at games around the world. This time the absurdity took place down in the tiny nation of Costa Rica when a television announcer was sent off the pitch by the referee for allegedly criticizing his performance on the air. The announcer, Henry de Jesus Diaz, was calling a second division match between Barrio Mexico and Coto Brus for the STV network and he apparently had been mentioning how brutal referee Jimmy Torres was during the contest.

One of the linesmen happened to overhear Diaz criticizing Torres and like a true rat went and told the referee that he was coming under attack over the airwaves. Torres then sauntered over to Diaz and asked him to leave the announcing table. Like he should have, Diaz refused to vacate his post, but the referee suspended the game for several minutes and said the match would be called off if Diaz didn’t leave. For some reason, Diaz eventually gave in and complied with the referee’s request. However, he should have stood his ground and refused to leave.

Diaz said after the match, that the incident was ridiculous as he’s simply a commentator trying to do his job and was just expressing his opinion on the state of the officiating during the game. There have been numerous odd events in soccer matches over the years and this one goes to show that the official let his position of power go to his head. He should be reprimanded for his actions, fined and also suspended. It won’t happen though, since the officials have the power to act exactly how Torres did. If soccer referees threatened to abandon games each time they’re criticized, most matches would never be completed.