Alexander Williams stopper attacks the referee in a screenshot from the viral video.
Alexander Williams Tapón, a 24-year-old man, was found dead on Monday night in the southern outskirts of Buenos Aires. A video of him attacking the referee during a football match at a neighborhood tournament circulated on social media over the weekend. Tapón ran to the judge from one end of the court, hit him three times and kicked him in the back as he fell. On Monday, referee Cristian Paniagua denounced him and the judiciary accused Tapón of attempted murder. Police are now investigating his possible suicide after finding him shot in the head.
The event has brought to light once again the extent of violence on the fields of Argentinian amateur football, where just a year ago another man was arrested for punching a referee during a match at another regional tournament in Buenos Aires. According to the latest news on the case, attacker Cristian Tirone was released in late August 2022 with a two-year suspended sentence after spending a month in detention at a police station. Referee Dalma Cortadi also returned to work after sustaining a head injury on the side of the neck. Complaints of violence against amateur tournament referees are piling up on social media, but these two cases have another common denominator: Argentina witnessed the events live and on TV after the attacks went viral.
Paniagua suffered the attack during the seventh of 11 games he was scheduled to referee on Saturday, July 15, according to his statement at the police station, released by sports press Doble Amarilla. The referee informed the police officers who took his complaint that the environment was hostile, that he had seen the players drinking alcohol before the game and that it all happened after he killed another player from the Tapón team ruled out who had spent the game insulting him.
“He didn’t assess the consequences, he could have killed me. I was able to communicate with him but there was no positive response from him. “He didn’t ask for his forgiveness,” Paniagua told El Trece Monday night from the door of a police station in Sarandí, Buenos Aires province, where police were taking his statement. The 36-year-old said he is a single father of two, works at a high-rise window cleaning company and has previously used weekends to officiate amateur tournaments to earn extra income. “When I watch the video over and over again, I thank God that he is here with my son and living in my house,” said Paniagua in the interview. “I got it cheap, I couldn’t count it. I want this to be primarily to end the violence against referees.”
Williams Tapón had also been interviewed on television. Hours before he was found dead, he spoke to Telefe Noticias. “He was already angry,” said Tapón. He believed that the arbitration was in favor of the other team and, as captain, was the one who faced the referee. “Today we spoke to the referee, I apologized. has clouded me “It was not wanted,” he said in the only excerpt of the interview that can still be seen on social networks.
His family denounced that Tapón committed suicide under pressure from the media and because the referee Paniagua asked 300,000 Argentine pesos (about $1,100 at the official exchange rate) for filing the complaint. “He suffered from a lot of pressure during the day, he even agreed with the TV cameras to apologize and tell what happened. “The only thing they did was embarrass him, they all judged him,” one of his sisters told C5N on Tuesday. “Yes, he reacted violently, but I imagine everyone who watches TV has had a bad reaction at some point.” Another of his brothers told El Trece that Tapón “felt bad” and that he apologized, however, the referee threatened to sue him if he didn’t give him the money.
Paniagua denied extorting money from Tapón. “I didn’t want the kid to do anything. We talked but I didn’t ask for money. I was just waiting for a “Crazy you know what, I was confused” to come out of his heart. “Excuse me,” he said in a radio interview on Tuesday. According to La Nación newspaper, Tapón was found by his friends near the Roca train tracks that connect Buenos Aires to the southern periphery. His body was taken to the door of his home, where police found it.
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