Referee Luis Alegre KO's furious losing coach with insane karate kick

After a coach charged onto the field following his side’s loss, a referee took matters into his own hands, showing off his martial arts background.

This is the incredible moment a referee KO’s a furious member of a losing team’s coaching staff with a karate kick to the face during a Peruvian league match.

Luis Alegre let rip with his right boot as the man invaded the pitch and ran towards him with the apparent intention of assaulting him with a plastic bottle in his hand, The Sun reports.

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He connected with his rival’s head, putting him on the ground and sparking the intervention of the police.

Things then took a turn for the worse as the ref and his linesmen were surrounded by angry players looking for revenge.

The drama occurred in the 82nd minute of Sport Huaquilla’s Copa Peru match against Magdalena CEDEC in Ancash north of the of the Peruvian capital Lima.

TV footage showed it happened after Mr Alegre brought out a red card after one of his linesman appeared to point towards someone from the Magdalena bench.

The video showed the ballsy ref was no martial arts beginner – with his right boot connecting full-on with the jaw of the unnamed individual who rushed at him and went to hit him with his plastic water bottle.

You can watch the crazy footage in the player above.

A referee KO'd a coach in Peru.

Remarkably Luis managed to keep hold of the red card he was brandishing in his left hand despite his rapid reaction to the assault he was about to become a victim of.

The linesman nearest the action ran towards the pair before the karate kick in an apparent attempt to protect his colleague.

Although he ended up trying to calm tempers elsewhere on the pitch as the situation threatened to derail.

The losing coach crumbled to the ground before getting up moments later dazed and confused.

The man on the receiving end of the referee’s martial arts technique got up moments after being felled looking dazed.

And perhaps thankfully for his own safety was persuaded not to react by one of his own team’s players who put his arms around him and moved him away.

Match commentators responded by saying, when it was already too late: “Calm down lads, calm down” before adding as police intervened: “This sort of thing can’t happen.”

The game was suspended after the incident.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission.

Originally published as Referee Luis Alegre KO's furious losing coach with insane karate kick