Boxer jailed over attack that left football match official with broken jaw

An amateur boxer has been jailed for assaulting an assistant referee at a football game in Australia almost two years ago.

Adam Abdallah was filmed violently assaulting match official Khodr Yaghi after a match at Padstow in south-west Sydney in April 2023.

The incident began with a verbal altercation, during which Mr Yaghi tapped the boxer with the assistant referee’s flag he was holding.

The 26-year-old Abdallah pleaded guilty in September to one count of reckless grievous bodily harm. He was jailed on Wednesday for at least one year and two months during his sentencing hearing in Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court.

Initially restrained and led away by his friends during the fracas, Abdallah then returned, swinging at the referee and knocking him to the ground.

Mr Yaghi was taken to hospital as a result of the incident, losing four teeth and suffering two fractures to his jaw.

Abdallah should not have been at the venue because he was suspended by the league at the time.

Judge Nicole Noman said Mr Yaghi instigated the violence, but Abdallah then launched into a “cowardly” attack involving multiple blows that landed while the referee was defenceless on the ground.

“This was an extreme and senseless offence that occurred in public at a sporting game with significant physical injuries,” the judge said.

“The footage shows his gusto in punching and kicking the victim.”

In the wake of the incident, the Bankstown District Amateur Football Association began a trial of referees using body cameras in its senior men’s matches.