Suicide bid referee discharged

Published Nov. 21, 2011 12:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

The German Football Federation (DFB) says the referee who attempted suicide hours before a Bundesliga game this weekend is recovering well and has been released from the hospital.

The DFB said Monday that Babak Rafati's condition has improved and that he has been discharged from the Cologne hospital he was taken to on Saturday.

Rafati's lawyer told the DFB that the 41-year-old referee would continue with inpatient treatment for an undetermined period of time.

Rafati was found bleeding in his hotel bathtub before he was due to take charge of a game between Cologne and Mainz.

The DFB said Rafati requested ''peace and quiet'' and that he ''now needs, above all, time and patience.''