The incident comes from Sunday’s Paulista A2 meeting between Comercial Ribeirao Preto and Gremio Catanduvens, where Comercial coach Pedro Santilli appeared to lose all sense of reason as the manager began throwing his weight around pitch-side, leading to two separate assaults.
For an unknown reason, most likely seeing his side trailing to his opponents, Pedro Santilli lost his head midway through the second half.
A second ball appeared on the pitch which allowed Santilli an opportunity to run onto the turf. Returning with the ball in his arms, the mature coach deliberately barged into a Catanduvens player, the player immediately hurling himself to the ground after being clattered into by the surprise attack.
Looking to defuse the situation, the referee, Flavio Rodrigues de Souza, called Santilli over for a quiet word with the coach. But rather than apologise for his unprovoked attack, the coach went even further by punching the match official in his mouth.
Brilliantly Santilli did not wait to be dismissed, heading off the pitch with the ball still under his arm.
