Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers, who sent off Dynamo Kiev's striker Andriy Shevchenko in their Europa League game on Thursday, was kicked from behind by an enraged fan as he left the pitch, video footage showed on Friday. The clip, from a Ukrainian sports news agency (http://www.proreferee.com/?v4nkkVei), shows a man lunge at referee Bjorn Kuipers with his foot as the Dutchman walked off the pitch at the end of the Dynamo Kiev v Braga quarter-final.The first leg ended in a 1-1 draw after Kuipers reduced the home side to 10 men on 61 minutes when he showed a second yellow card to Ukraine striker Shevchenko, who had been brought on as a substitute to try to snatch victory. The home crowd was infuriated by the decision to send off Shevchenko, whose second booking was for playing on and putting the ball in the net after being flagged offside. He said later he had not heard the referee’s whistle. Kuipers appeared to have felt the kick because he is seen on the video footage turning around to react.
Source: Reuters
