Pro rugby player gets three-year ban for vicious cheap shot on a female ref

Published Dec. 15, 2016 10:37 a.m. ET

Pete Blackburn

A pro rugby player recently received a three-year ban from the sport after he viciously attacked a female referee during a match.

Video shows Bruno Andres Doglioli delivering a brutal blindside tackle on referee Maria Beatrice Benvenuti during a Serie A match in Italy. According to reports, the 23-year-old Benvenuti suffered whiplash from the incident. It's not hard to see why.

https://www.facebook.com/delinquentipallaovale/videos/577291942464986/

Doglioli's tackle was ruled a "deliberate act of violence" and, thus, resulted in the longest ban in the last two decades.

Honestly, though, a lifetime ban probably would have appropriate here, too.