A Brazilian footballer who attacked referee charged with "attempt to murder"

A Brazilian football player is now charged with attempted murder after he kicked a referee in the head during a low league match in the country's southern region.

The player recognized as William Ribeiro of Sport Club São Paulo beat the referee after scoring a foul against him during a league match against Guarani on Monday. The game was suspended 14 minutes into the second half while referee Rodrigo Crivellaro was taken to hospital. He was later released.

"I have decided ... to prosecute the boy with attempted murder because, in my perception of the case, he took the risk of bringing a fatal outcome," the officer in charge told the Brazilian media.

The attack took place at Sports Club São Paulo's 113th anniversary. The club called the occurrence "one of the worst in its history" and stated they dismissed Ribeiro summarily and were examining what further action they could take.

The small club of the Rio Grande, a city of about 200,000 people about 320 km south of the capital Porto Alegre, plays in the second part of the Rio Grande do Sul state championship. The match was stopped on Monday and started a day later with Guarani winning 1-0, the state football federation said.