Soccer Ref. in Utah Dies After Player Attack

A longtime soccer referee in Utah has died after being punched by a 17-year-old player, Fox News Latino has reported.

Ricardo Portillo, 46, of Salt Lake City succumbed to the injury he suffered when a player in a recreational soccer league hit Portillo for calling a foul on him and issuing him a yellow card, Unified Police spokesman Justin Hoyal said Saturday night.

The teen, whose name hasn't been released because of his age, has been booked into juvenile detention on suspicion of aggravated assault, Hoyal said, adding authorities will consider additional charges since Portillo has died.

"The suspect was close to Portillo and punched him once in the face as a result of the call," Hoyal said in a press release.

An autopsy is planned. No cause of death has yet been released.

After the assalt, Portillo suffered swelling in his brain and had been listed in critical condition, according to doctors at the Intermountain Medical Center in the Salt Lake City suburb of Murray.

The victim's family, which publicly spoke of about Portillo's fight for his life past week, has asked for privacy, Hoyal said.

Daughter Johana Portillo, 26, said last week she hadn't attended the April 27 game in the Salt Lake City suburb of Taylorsville, but she had been told by witnesses and detectives that the player hit her father in the side of the head.

"When he was writing down his notes, he just came out of nowhere and punched him," she told Fox News Latino.

The accused teenager was playing goalie during the game at Eisenhower Junior High School in Taylorsville when Portillo issued him a yellow card for pushing an opposing player trying to score a goal.

In soccer, a yellow card is given as a warning to a player for a violation of the rules.

The teenager, who observers said was significantly heavier than the referee, began arguing with Portillo and then unleashed a punch to his head.

Portillo initially seemed to feel fine after the attack, but soon complained of dizziness. He sat down and started vomiting blood, at which point one of his friends called paramedics.

When police arrived at the scene, the alleged had fled Portillo was lying on the ground, in a fetal position. Portillo told first responders through a translator that his face and back hurt and he felt nauseous, though h had no visible injuries and remained conscious.

Portillo was assessed to be in fair condition when he was taken to the hospital to the Intermountain Medical Center. But, upon arrived to the hospital, he slipped into a coma.

Detectives intensified their search for the goalie after they were told of Portillo's worsening condition. By that evening, the teenager's father had been located agreed to take his son to speak with police.

The Portillo family told Fox News Latino said their father been attacked before by angry players and that they had begged their father to stop refereeing --- but he continued, because he loved soccer.

"It was his passion," Johanna Portillo said. "We could not tell him no."