February 10, 2008	Sunday	Safar 02,1429

BANGKOK, Feb 9: A Thai football referee was beaten up by an entire team after sending off three of their players during a match to decide promotion to country’s second division, local media reported on Friday.

Referee Prakong Sukguamala needed 50 stitches and also broke a finger after being attacked by the Kuiburi FC squad, furious at being shown three red cards during a 4-1 loss to Kasem Bundit on Thursday, the Thai-language Thai Rath newspaper said.

The angry players charged into Prakong’s dressing room at the stadium in Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok, and started to kick and punch him.

They dispersed after police fired gunshots into the air.

The players then chased Prakong into the stadium’s office, where the hapless official ran into a mirror, leaving him with cuts all over his body.

Prakong told Channel 3 TV he was forced to lock himself in the room to escape his attackers.

Prakong, covered in bruises, insisted he had refereed the game fairly and had been told by Thailand’s football federation to press charges against the Kuiburi team.—Reuters