The Soccer Match that Ends with a Referee Quartered

08/05/2013 - 08h20

Centro do Meio, in Maranhão, is a population of 200 families in the rural area of Pio XII, south of São Luís. It has been one month since it was the centre of attention after a soccer match ended with the death of a player and a referee being quartered.

Since then, those who live in the region say they have been "cursed" by those in neighboring areas, and the silence surrounding the incident has hidden details of a homicide that was recorded by dozens of camera phones - images that have never surfaced -.

On that day, the referee, Otávio Cantanhêde, 19, and the expelled player, Josemir Abreu, 30, argued. The referee ended up stabbing the player, who was taken to the hospital.

Félix Lima/Folhapress

The head of the referee was put on the stake of a fence that surrounded the football field.

Dozens of people tied Cantanhêde up until, an hour later, the news of Abreu's death reached them. Along with the news came the verdict: the referee had his legs and arms cut off with a scythe and was decapitated.

His head was put on the stake of a fence that surrounded the soccer field.

With their simple homes, tall grass and dirt roads, residents of the Pio XII district barely remembered the last murder that took place in the town, which happened 15 or 16 years ago, depending on the version of the story being told.

Now, the memory of its latest crimes is constant: children from Centro do Meio are harassed at school and those from Pio XII's urban area make the sign of the cross when they see residents from that same district.

"Anyone who lives here feels rejected. Even children are suffering," says housewife Teresa de Souza, 52, who lives next to the soccer field that hosted the match on the evening of June 30.

Translated by JILL LANGLOIS

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