Vile words soccer player uttered to referee before viral attack

The horrific words an amateur boxer uttered to a referee before breaking his jaw at a soccer match have been revealed in court.

The horrific words an amateur boxer uttered to a referee before breaking his jaw at a soccer match in Western Sydney have been revealed in court.

Adam Abdallah came to the public’s attention in 2023 after a video showed him attacking referee Khodr Yaghi after a match at Padstow Oval in southwestern Sydney was circulated online.

He punched Mr Yaghi multiple times in the face and kicked him in the head, leaving the referee with four missing teeth and a broken jaw.

According to court documents, Abdallah and the referee were involved in a heated argument in Arabic before the attack in which Abdallah said to Mr Yaghi “f**k your mum and your sister”.

The referee then responded with words to the effect of: “You have your tongue. That’s all you have. You have your tongue.”

Abdallah was watching the game at the time, having been suspended from playing due to a fight earlier in the season, the documents stated.

A heated argument ensued moments before the fight. Picture: Supplied

Meanwhile, prosecutor Holly Bates branded Abdallah’s apology in Downing Centre Local Court on Monday an act of “self-interest” rather than genuine remorse.

The amateur boxer initially pleaded not guilty to reckless grievous bodily harm and was granted bail in May 2023 after the circulation of an extended version of the viral video appeared to show he’d been attacked first.

He changed his plea to guilty in September.

The court was told Abdallah had written an apology over the incident just days prior to his appearance on Monday.

Ms Bates claimed judge Nicole Noman should not accept the apology as “genuine” but rather a move of “self-interest”.

“In relation to the issue of remorse, the Crown submits that Your Honour would not accept the remorse outlined as being genuine,” Ms Bates said.

Adam Abdallah was already serving a suspension due to a fight earlier in the season.

“It’s rather self-interest. It was only written, authored and signed Friday.”

Ms Bates claimed that Abdallah “continued to victim blame” and “attempted to minimise his actions” just months before writing the apology.

“He maintained that position all the way up until last Friday,” she said.

However, Abdallah’s defence, Greg James KC,earlier told the court that remorse was not “black and white”.

“One might well feel that you’ve been whacked on the head, knocked to the ground, being the subject of the approach by the victim, and then reacted as you feel others would in your situation … but regret your conduct and regret that all having brought you to the prosecution and the litigation and the remand of such a period of time,” he said.

“Our simple submission is there is remorse there — how you want to weigh it is a different thing.”

The court was also shown three videos on Monday, with the first two being different angles of the brawl.

In them, Abdallah appears to punch Mr Yaghi several times.

While a large crowd surrounding the pair made it at times difficult to see, Abdallah at one point also appears to pick up a plastic chair.

Blood was captured dripping down Mr Yaghi’s face in one of the videos.

The third video shown in court was a boxing match in which Abdallah knocked his opponent to the ground.

Judge Noman adjourned the case until Wednesday.

She warned Abdallah to “be prepared” that he may be taken into custody.

“It is a situation where there is of course a significant chance that your client may go into custody, but it’s not definitive,” Judge Noman said.

“He should be prepared that may be one of the outcomes.”

Originally published as Vile words soccer player uttered to referee before viral attack