A lower-league soccer match in Germany took an astonishing and painful turn over the weekend when a bizarre incident involving a referee and a small child led to the game’s cancellation before it even began. The eighth-division clash between FC Taxi Duisburg II and SV Rot-Weiss Mülheim was called off after referee Stefan Kahler suffered an unexpected and highly unusual injury.
The Incident That Shocked the Soccer World
During the standard pre-match ID check, Stefan Kahler was approached by a small child, reportedly the son of an FC Taxi player, who was warming up alongside the team. As the child moved closer to the referee, the unthinkable happened.
“While I was checking the FC Taxi players’ ID, a small child was doing warm-up exercises alongside the players. He came closer and closer to me, then suddenly—to my complete surprise—gave me a sharp bite in my left testicle,” Kahler explained in his official match report.
The shocking incident left Kahler in severe pain, rendering him unable to officiate the match. With no replacement referee available, officials had no choice but to cancel the game. The fixture will now be rescheduled for a later date.
For All the Wrong Reasons: A Match to Remember
Other haunting memories have truly left the soccer community in these parts aghast. While injuries and freak occurrences are very deep-rooted in sports, this time around stands to be one of the highlight incidents in recent history.
Nothing much has been divulged to substantiate whether Kahler would be retaking up his duties to officiate the postponed match or whether he would be putting further precautions against any future occurrence.
A Thing That Reminds Us of Soccer's Unpredictability
This instance makes one feel assured that, just like any other sport on the globe, soccer too gives moments that are out of imagination. Be it a stoppage-time equalizer or an impromptu weather delay, the game never fails to surprise. A referee getting bitten by a child during a pre-match procedure is something else entirely that belongs in a history book.
So, for Stefan Kahler, one hopes the next assignment does not involve pain but is plain and normal. In the meantime, the event will remain for underground chatter for many years, adding yet another weird chapter to soccer.
