Last month, shocking footage came to light, which showed a club rugby player attacking a referee during a game that reportedly took place in Namibia. During a match between Grootfontein and Reho Falcons, footage shows a stop in play, and as the referee appeared to be reaching for a card, he was assaulted by one of the players. A member of the Grootfontein team – clearly upset with a decision the referee made – could be seen charging in from about 10 metres away and flooring the referee with a head high tackle.

Fortunately, the official was able to get straight back to his feet, but the match was called off. It’s now been confirmed that the Namibian Rugby Union has banned the player for life. In addition, he has received a 156-week ban from all other forms of rugby that will prevent him from being involved in any form of coaching, refereeing or administration.

You can watch the shocking club rugby incident involving the referee below: Steps being taken against referee abuse at the highest levels Earlier this year, World Rugby confirmed that law enforcement cases are under way after tracking online abuse aimed at officials during the 2023 World Cup. The impact of the tracking service comes as World Rugby releases the trailer for ‘ Whistleblowers,’ an access-all-areas film following the match officials’ journey to and through Rugby World Cup 2023, which also highlights the scale of online abuse they faced. The ground-breaking film launched via RugbyPass TV on 1 Febru.