A Dutch assistant referee officiating at his son's youth football match has died after being kicked and beaten by several players.
Richard Nieuwenhuizen collapsed and was rushed to the hospital hours after players from Amsterdam club Nieuw Sloten punched and kicked him following the match. The team were playing against Buitenboys, Nieuwenhuizen's club, which said the 41-year-old linesman died on Monday night but did not announce the exact cause of death.
"You can't believe this could happen. That kids of 15 or 16 are playing football, you come to watch and see something like that," Marcel Oost, the chairman of Buitenboys club, told national broadcaster NOS.
Three players, aged 15 to 16, were arrested earlier on Monday for alleged involvement in the beating, which happened on Sunday in the town of Almere.