A soccer player in America, Bassel Saad, has punched a
referee to death in reaction to being shown a second yellow
in a game but has escaped with just an eight years
sentence in prison for involuntary manslaughter.
The case against Bassel Saad has put a spotlight on out-
of-control recreational athletes andninspired Michigan
lawmakers to consider new crimes for assaults on sports
referees.
Saad, a Dearborn auto mechanic, admits striking refeee
John Bieniewicz (BEN’-uh-wits) during a game last
summer at a Livonia park. He was preparing to call a
penalty that would have ejected Saad from the game.
In a dramatic moment, Bieniewicz’ wife, Kris Bieniewicz,
held up a red card in court Friday, signaling the ejection.
Saad expressed remorse.
He expressed remorse and said he prays daily for the
Bieniewicz family, which includes two children. “I hope
he’s with us, he can hear me … I hope one day they forgive
me,” Saad said.
“One man has enough pent-up frustration, enough
vengeance in his heart, that with one blow he can take my
husband’s life and in the process destroy not only my
family but his family,” Kris Bieniewicz said.
The sentence followed terms of a plea deal reached in
February that trumps an initial charge of second-degree
murder. Saad was ordered to pay $9,200 in funeral
expenses.
“For better or for worse, you’ve come to personify all that’s
wrong with many people’s belief about the escalation of
violence in sports,” Judge Thomas Cameron told him.
The victim’s sisters and mother referred to Bieniewicz as a
selfless son and sibling who didn’t miss a family member’s
birthday and was a natural confidante. “Our hearts are
broken,” mother Barbara Bieniewicz said.
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