UEFA have dropped a certain referee from a UEFA Champions League match this week due to allegations the official threatened to kill a player.
According to Corriere della Sera, Italian referee Fabio Maresca was removed from Champions League duties this week after he was alleged to have previously threatened to kill a certain player.
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Maresca was expected to be part of the refereeing team for Tuesday night's game between PSV Eindhoven and Sporting CP, but he has been replaced by Daniele Doveri.
Moreover, it is said Maresca also faces the risk of being banned for a month in his native Italy, where he could be barred from officiating Serie A games.
The alleged incident that got him in this position reportedly took place in a Kuwaiti Premier League match between Kuwait SC and Al Arabi on 27 September.
Al Arabi star Khaled Al-Mershed is believed to have collided with Maresca, with it reported the referee did not take kindly to the incident, proceeding to make an alleged threat to kill the defensive midfielder because he did not think the collision was an accident.
After the controversial incident, an Al Arabi board member, Adnan Abdul, claimed on X: "Heading to the Adailiya police station to file a case against the Italian referee of today's match who managed a match for threatening player Khaled Al-Mershed with the phrase 'I will kill you'.
"This is proven by video and evidence, and for each party to bear responsibility for bringing this type of referee to our stadiums and for everyone to understand the phrase 'sports are ethics'."
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It is noted that the delegation responsible for overseeing Serie A matches is expected to make a comment reacting to Maresca's alleged conduct in the coming days.