The trio from Oruro made up of referee Álvaro Campos and line assistants Jesús Ramírez and Juvenal Villca, in addition to the fourth referee, Santiago Silva from Santa Cruz, denounced that at the end of the Oriente-The Strongest match, were subjected to aggression and robbery in the locker room of the Tahuichi Aguilera stadium. The match was played in that sports setting, within the framework of the ninth date of the Apertura de la División Profesional tournament.
According to Víctor Hugo Chambi, president of the Bolivian Association of Soccer Referees (ABAF), Oriente Petrolero replaced the money that the referees had been paid to direct this match.
“They were only reimbursed the money they received for their workwhich had been stolen, the rest of the money they had in their wallets, plus the cell phones and the documents, were not returned to them,” said Chambi in telephone contact with DIEZ.
In this case the local club ddisbursed Bs 2,500 to Álvaro Campos, Bs 1,900 to each of the line assistants and Bs 1,300 to the fourth official.
Chambi added that the referee and line assistants suffered non-serious injuriesdue to the aggression of several people who entered the referees’ locker room, in the Tahuichi stadium.
“In the first instance, what worried us the most was that the return of the referees to Oruro be guaranteed and thank God that task has been achieved. They will be evaluated in their city for the health insurance we have, because suffered injuries that in the first instance are not of consideration”, expressed President Chambi.
The ABAF will have a meeting in the next few hours and will issue a statement in support of its affiliates. Chambi recalled that the club that acts as a local must guarantee the safety of the referees, before, during and after the matches.
“Security for referees has been relaxed a bit and we want to set a precedent so that it does not happen again an event of this nature”, concluded the president of the ABAF.