The attack on a top Turkish referee this week was an example of the "cancer" that threatens to kill football, leading FIFA official Pierluigi Collina said Wednesday.
Halil Umut Meler was hospitalized after being attacked by Ankaragücü president Faruk Koca at the end of a match Monday. He was also kicked by fans who invaded the field.
"It’s a responsibility for all those who love the 'beautiful game' to take action and do something. Before it's too late, before this cancer will kill football," said Collina, chairman of FIFA’s Referees Committee.
Meler sustained a slight fracture near his eye and was discharged from hospital Wednesday.
Koca punched the referee after the final whistle of a 1-1 draw in a Süper Lig game against Rizespor. Meler fell to the ground and was also kicked in a melee when fans invaded the pitch after Rizespor scored a last-minute equalizer.
Koca and two other people have been placed under pretrial detention, facing charges of causing injury to a public official.
"The image of Halil Umut lying on the ground, with his hands protecting his head while he was kicked by his assaulters, as well as the image of the bruise under his eye, are horrific," Collina said in a statement.
"But even more horrific is to know that there are thousands of referees around the world who are verbally and physically abused at lower levels of the game across the world, without being reported by media."
Collina, a former top referee, said even more serious incidents of violence towards officials were happening around the world.
"A referee cannot be beaten because of a decision they took, even if it’s wrong," he said.
"His or her car cannot be bombed or set on fire because of a penalty kick. Unfortunately this is not an exaggeration, as cars bombs and cars being set on fire is something that has happened in some countries, and not so rarely."
Koca is reported to have told prosecutors during questioning that he slapped Meler.
He later announced his resignation.
"I apologize to the Turkish referee and sports community, to the Turkish people and especially to Mr. Meler and his family for the attitude I displayed toward Halil Umut Meler," he said in a statement read by his lawyer late Tuesday.
In recent times there have been a number of high profile incidents involving attacks or threats made toward officials in football.
In Brazil, the president of fourth-division club Sergipe was suspended after he came onto the pitch and punched a referee in March. Last month, an official with Brazilian club Corinthians tried to break into the VAR room after one of the team's players was sent off.
English referee Anthony Taylor and his family had to be escorted away by security at an airport in Hungary after Roma fans targeted him and threw a chair in his direction after the Europa League final in May.
More extreme incidents include the gun-toting owner of Greek team PAOK Thessaloniki marching onto the field following a disputed goal in 2018. And a weekend football player was sentenced to at least eight years in prison in 2015 in the United States for a punch that killed a referee.
Football has for a long time been concerned about how abuse at the top of the sport can lead to rising incidents at amateur and youth level.
A referees' charity in England has warned incidents like the one in Türkiye could soon be repeated in the Premier League.
"The desensitization of ref abuse has been left to fester for far too long and an incident like this, live on TV, is just around the corner in top-flight football in the U.K. unless we have a huge change in attitude and culture towards match officials at all levels of the game," said Martin Cassidy, chief executive of Ref Support UK.
"Referees all over the world have, for far too long, been viewed as fair game no matter what age the referee is. Referees are an endangered species due to abuse, threats and assaults."
Despite those fears, the body that runs referees and officials in England, said Wednesday that there had been a "significant decrease" in unacceptable behavior this season compared to the same point last season.
The Professional Game Match Officials (PGMOL) has clamped down on what it describes as conduct on the field and on the sidelines at all levels of pro football in England.
As a result it said there had been a 37% decrease in charges for surrounding match officials, dropping from 19 to 12. According to its figures there has also been 43% decrease in charges for mass confrontations (61 to 35) and a 10% reduction of charges for "technical area misconduct" (70 to 63).
"A culture change won't happen overnight and it is early days, but we are moving in the right direction and our officials are successfully delivering on our part of the collective football effort to reset behaviors, protect the reputation and promote the positive image of the game for the next generations," PGMOL chief Howard Webb said.
There has been an 88% increase in cautions for acts of dissent from players, which is likely a result of the PGMOL's clampdown. Numbers went up from 966 to 1,813 cautions.
