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A third-tier soccer match in Germany took a very unexpected turn on Sunday, as a referee had beer thrown in his face by an enraged fan during halftime. According to the Associated Press, Zwickau — a team facing relegation — was taking on Rot-Weiss Essen when referee Nicolas Winter had a cup of beer tossed in his face by an irritated fan.
After the incident, the match was abandoned. As of Monday morning it is unclear when or if the match will be resumed.
The fan was reportedly frustrated with Winter’s decision to send off a Zwickau player and give a penalty kick to Rot-Weiss Essen prior to halftime. As Winter was walking off of the pitch, the fan splashed a cup of beer right in his face.
Winter had given Zwickau defender Nils Butzen a red card for taking down forward Isaiah Young. The referee followed that decision up with awarding a penalty for a hand ball from the resulting free kick.
As a result of the hand ball call, Rot-Weiss Essen’s Simon Engelmann ended up scoring on the penalty kick to tie the match at 1-1 just before halftime. That’s when the Zwickau fan decided to air his grievances in the direction of Winter.
The match’s officials waited before leaving the pitch. Magenta Sport TV showed the fan tossing the beer at Winter’s face.
