List of sports officials who died while active

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This is a list of sports officials who died while active. This list is organized alphabetically by the sport the individual officiated in, and notes the deaths in chronological order within each sport. Also noted are age, leagues/associations or events they were part of when they died, officiating position (if applicable), cause of death, and date of death. Some deaths occurred due to an in-game injury or medical emergency, but most were the result of injuries and illnesses sustained elsewhere. There are also deaths that occurred due to violence directed towards officials. Abuse of officials, whether it be physical violence or verbal threats, has been of increasing concern in many sports.^[1][2][3]

Although this list primarily consists of professional sports officials, amateur sports officials may be included if their deaths are related to games they worked, or were scheduled to do so. Officials who worked in notable high level amateur sports (such as NCAA Division I college sports and Major Junior ice hockey), and officials who worked world championship or Olympic/Paralympic events shortly before their deaths are treated as professional. This list does not include officiating supervisors or officials who retired shortly before their deaths, unless they were working a game at the time.

Association football

RPL referee Vladimir Pettay died in the 2011 crash of RusAir Flight 9605

Ligue 1 referee Johan Hamel [simple] died of a stroke in 2022

The following are association football/soccer referees who died during their careers or officiating assignments.

Name	Age	League	Cause of death	Date of death	Ref(s)
Vladimir Pettay	38	Russian Premier League	plane crash	June 20, 2011	[4]
Richard Nieuwenhuizen	41	Royal Dutch Football Association	assaulted by players	December 2, 2012	[5]
Ricardo Portillo	46	Liga Continental de Futbol (amateur, Salt Lake City, United States)	assault by player	May 4, 2013	[6]
Otávio da Silva	20	unknown league in Pio XII, Brazil (amateur)	decapitated by spectators	June 30, 2013	[7]
John Bieniewicz	44	recreational league in Detroit, United States	assault by player	July 1, 2014	[8]
Edwin Quintero	49	unknown league in Toronto, Canada	shot during game	October 9, 2022	[9]
Johan Hamel (simple)	42	Ligue 1	stroke	November 15, 2022	[10]
Max Molelekoa	31	Premier Soccer League	car accident	January 21, 2023	[11]
Akho Ndzingo	30	Premier Soccer League	gunshot wounds	June 12, 2024	[12]
Wilverglen Lamey	48	Jamaica Football Federation	in-game collapse	September 21, 2024	[13]
Peter Kabugo	27	Uganda Premier League	in-game cardiac arrest due to asthma attack	November 1, 2024	[14]

Athletics

Track and field

The following are track and field officials who died during their careers or officiating assignments.

Name	Age	Event	Association	Cause of death	Date of death	Ref(s)
Maree Rodebaugh	56	shot put	Amateur Athletic Union[a]	internal bleeding after being struck in back during meet	May 29, 1977	[15]
Paul Suzuki	77	shot put	USA Track & Field[b]	brain injury during pre-meet practice	June 22, 2005	[16]
Dieter Strack	74	javelin throw	Düsseldorf Athletics (DLV)	impaled during meet	August 26, 2012	[17]
Douglas Koban	75	hammer throw	USA Track & Field Niagara	brain injury during meet	December 7, 2014	[18]
Ethan Roser	19	hammer throw	College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin[c]	brain injury during meet	April 22, 2017	[19]

Australian rules football

VFL umpire Alexander Salton was a casualty of World War I, and is the only VFL/AFL umpire to die in military service

VFL umpire Ern Jenkins died less than three months after the conclusion of the 1927 season

The following are Australian football umpires who died during their careers or officiating assignments.

Name	Age	Position	League	Cause of death	Date of death	Ref(s)
Alexander Salton	47	goal umpire	Victorian Football League	killed in action during WWI	September 10, 1916	[20]
Ern Jenkins	48	goal umpire	Victorian Football League	unknown	December 21, 1927	[21] [22]
Teddy Shorten	51	goal umpire	Victorian Football League	unknown	July 9, 1949	[22]
Greg Sidebottom	61	field umpire	Kyabram District Football League[d]	in-game heart attack	April 2, 2016	[23][24]
Jesse Baird	26	goal umpire	Australian Football League	murdered	February 19, 2024	[25]

Baseball

AL umpire (and Honor Rolls of Baseball inductee) Jack Sheridan died of a heart attack in 1914

NL umpire John McSherry (pictured umpiring a 1985 game) died after collapsing during the Cincinnati Reds 1996 home opener

MLB umpire Eric Cooper died of surgery complications two weeks after working a 2019 postseason game

The following are baseball umpires who died during their careers or officiating assignments.

Name	Age	League	Cause of death	Date of death	Ref(s)
Jack McQuaid	35–36	National League	unknown	April 16, 1895	[26]
Jack Sheridan	52	American League	heart attack	November 2, 1914	[27]
Steve Kane	45	Ohio State League[e]	heart attack	October 30, 1915	[28][29]
Silk O'Loughlin	42	American League	influenza	December 20, 1918	[30]
Pete Harrison	36	National League	tuberculosis	March 10, 1921	[31]
Paul Sentell	43	National League	collapsed during pre-game warmup from appendicitis	April 27, 1923	[32]
Frank Wilson	38	National League	appendicitis	June 12, 1928	[33]
Sherry Magee	44	National League	pneumonia	March 13, 1929	[34]
Cy Pfirman	48	National League	kidney disease	May 16, 1937	[35]
Lou Kolls	48	American Association[f]	car accident	February 23, 1941	[36]
Cal Drummond	52	American Association[g]	in-game stroke	May 3, 1970	[37]
Tony Venzon	56	National League	complications of open heart surgery	September 20, 1971	[38]
Lou DiMuro	51	American League	post-game car accident	June 7, 1982	[39]
Bill Kunkel	48	American League	colon cancer	May 4, 1985	[40]
Dick Stello	53	National League	car accident	November 18, 1987	[41]
Lee Weyer	51	National League	post-game heart attack	July 4, 1988	[42]
Nick Bremigan	43	American League	heart attack	March 28, 1989	[43]
John McSherry	51	National League	in-game heart attack	April 1, 1996	[44]
Wally Bell	48	Major League Baseball	heart attack	October 14, 2013	[45]
Eric Cooper	52	Major League Baseball	blood clot following knee surgery	October 20, 2019	[46]
David Simon	51	Frontier League[h]	cardiac arrest	December 5, 2022	[47]
Conor McKenzie	29	Northwoods League	car accident while travelling to game	July 9, 2023	[48]
Marty Bauer	55	Atlantic League	unknown	October 4, 2024	[49]

Softball

The following are softball umpires who died during their careers or officiating assignments.

Name	Age	League	Cause of death	Date of death	Ref(s)
Ricky Scearce Jr	60	University Interscholastic League	in-game heart attack	May 4, 2012	[50]
Jeff Reynolds	65	Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association	in-game heart attack	May 25, 2016	[51][52]
Rick Rogers	61	Softball Ontario	collapsed during tournament	July 21, 2024	[53]

Basketball

The following are basketball referees that died during their careers or officiating assignments.

Name	Age	League	Cause of death	Date of death	Ref(s)
Troy Raymond	46	Sun Belt Conference, Southland Conference[i]	suicide	August 12, 2011	[54]
Greg Willard	54	National Basketball Association	pancreatic cancer	April 1, 2013	[55]
Tony Brown	55	National Basketball Association	pancreatic cancer	October 20, 2022	[56]
Don McGillicuddy	56	Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association	in-game cardiac arrest	March 1, 2024	[57]

Boxing

The following are boxing referees who died during their careers or officiating assignments.

Name	Age	Final match	Cause of death	Date of death	Ref(s)
Richard Green	46	Page def. Snipes (May 20, 1983, USBA)	suicide	September 15, 1983	[58]
Mitch Halpern	33	Mendoza def. Álvarez (August 12, 2000, WBA)	suicide	August 20, 2000	[59]

Cricket

The following are cricket umpires who died during their careers or officiating assignments.

Name	Age	League	Cause of death	Date of death	Ref(s)
Alcwyn Jenkins	72	South Wales Cricket Association	in-game brain injury	July 4, 2009	[60]
Hillel Awaskar	55	Israel Cricket Association	in-game neck injury	November 30, 2014	[61]
John Williams	80	Pembroke County Cricket League	in-game brain injury	August 15, 2019	[62]
Sumit Bansal	46	Delhi & District Cricket Association	cardiac arrest shortly after recovering from in-game injury	October 10, 2021	[63]

Gridiron football

The following are gridiron football officials (including Canadian rules officials and those of other football variations) who died during their careers or officiating assignments.

Name	Age	Position	League	Cause of death	Date of death	Ref(s)
James Barnhill	45	referee	American Football League	heart attack	March 11, 1966	[64]
George Young	45	umpire	American Football League	brain tumor	September 21, 1969	[65]
Jack Vest	45	referee	National Football League	motorcycle crash	June 2, 1972	[66][67]
Harry Kessel	47	head linesman	National Football League	unknown	October 9, 1972	[68][69]
George Ellis	53	field judge	National Football League	unknown illness	July 31, 1974	[70][71]
Vince Jacob	51	side judge	National Football League	heart attack	October 26, 1982	[72]
Dick Jorgensen	56	referee	National Football League	complications of a blood disorder	October 10, 1990	[73]
Dave Hamilton	61	umpire	National Football League	liver failure	January 9, 1995	[74][75]
Donnie Hampton	47	field judge	National Football League	heart attack	January 30, 1995	[76][77]
Bob Lawing	58	back judge	National Football League	cancer	May 6, 2010	[78][79]
Carl Madsen	71	replay official	National Football League	cardiac arrest while driving home from game	October 24, 2021	[80]

Ice hockey

The following are ice hockey officials who died during their careers or officiating assignments.

Name	Age	Position	League	Cause of death	Date of death	Ref(s)
Stéphane Provost	37	linesman	National Hockey League	motorcycle crash	April 22, 2005	[81]
Roland Hedberg	62	referee	Swedish Ice Hockey Association	in-game brain injury	January 30, 2010	[82][83]
Butch Mousseau	48	referee	Western Collegiate Hockey Association	brain injury during pre-game warmup	March 25, 2016	[84]
Pavel Lainka (cs)	24	referee	WSM Liga[j]	in-game brain injury	September 10, 2016	[85]
Rafael Kadyrov	47	referee	Kontinental Hockey League	brain cancer	January 20, 2017	[86]

Motorsport

The following are officials including motorsport marshals who died during their careers or officiating assignments.

Name	Age	Position	Series	Event	Cause of death	Date of death	Ref(s)
Elmo Langley	68	safety car driver	NASCAR Winston Cup Series	1996 NASCAR Thunder 100	Massive heart attack during safety car runs 2 days prior to race day	November 21, 1996	[87][88]

Rugby football

Rugby league

The following are rugby league match officials/referees who died during their careers or officiating assignments.

Name	Age	League	Cause of death	Date of death	Ref(s)
Ted Hooper	54	New South Wales Rugby Football League[k]	collapsed after match	August 22, 1925	[89]
Chris Leatherbarrow	27	Super League	suicide	November 1, 2015	[90]

Rugby union

The following are rugby union match officials/referees who died during their careers or officiating assignments.

Name	Age	League	Cause of death	Date of death	Ref(s)
Kerry Fitzgerald	43	Queensland Rugby Union[l]	heart attack	December 18, 1991	[91][92]
Ian Rogers	41	South African Rugby Football Union[m]	cancer	November 26, 1998	[93]
Ian Hooper	60	Far North Coast Rugby Union	in-match heart attack	April 28, 2019	[94]

Tennis

The following are tennis umpires who died during their careers or officiating assignments.

Name	Age	Position	Final tournament	Cause of death	Date of death	Ref(s)
Dick Wertheim	60–61	linesman	1983 US Open	in-game brain injury	September 15, 1983	[95]

See also

• Lists of sportspeople who died during their careers
• List of sumo wrestlers who died during their careers [ja] - including a list of gyojis who died while active

Notes

1. Rodebaugh was fatally struck during the 1977 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
2. Suzuki was fatally struck during the 2005 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
3. Roser was fatally struck while assisting officials as a volunteer.
4. Sidebottom was an umpire in the VFL from 1976 to 1987.
5. Kane previously umpired in the National League and Federal League.
6. Kolls previously umpired in the AL.
7. Drummond umpired in the AL from 1960 to 1969, where he suffered a serious head injury that led to his death.
8. Simon was also umpiring college baseball at the time of his death.
9. Raymond was a referee for the 2003-04 NBA season.
10. Lainka was refereeing a junior hockey game when he was mortally injured.
11. Hooper had retired in 1915, and was working as the NSWRFL’s referee assignor when he died after officiating an exhibition match in 1925.
12. Fitzgerald refereed the 1987 Rugby World Cup final and his final match was during the 1991 Rugby World Cup.
13. Rogers refereed the 1995 Rugby World Cup, and was assigned to 1999 Rugby World Cup qualifying but had fallen ill.