The wife of a soccer referee who was allegedly attacked on the field by an amateur boxer reveals the incident ruined their family holiday – which was booked for the next day.
Khoder Yaghi, 45, was working as an assistant referee when he was allegedly attacked by Adam Abdallah, 25, following a match between the Eagles and the Padstow Hornets at Padstow Park, in south-west Sydney, at 10.30pm on Friday.
Footage showed Mr Yaghi being pulled to the ground and trying to shield his face from punches and kicks. The father-of-four was covered in blood and missing teeth by the time he was raced to Liverpool Hospital.
On Monday morning, his wife Fay Yaghi told Radio 2GB that her husband is still hooked up to machines in hospital while awaiting an operation to reconstruct his jaw – which was broken in three places.
She told host Ben Fordham that she couldn’t stop crying when she saw her husband briefly on Saturday night, but what made the situation worse was cancelling their family holiday to Bali and Singapore.
Khoder and Fay Yaghi were supposed to take their four sons to Bali and Singapore on Sunday, but had to cancel (pictured, Mr Yaghi with three of his four children)
Adam Abdullah, 25 (pictured), faces charges of wounding a person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and affray over the alleged attack
The couple and their four young sons were supposed to fly out of Sydney Airport on at 12.30pm on Sunday, but ‘we couldn’t go because my husband was [allegedly] brutally bashed,’ she said.
‘For the past month we’ve been planning and booking for this holiday and we had bags ready, packed up and everything.’
‘I can’t believe that we have to cancel.’
Ms Yaghi recalled that trying to explain the alleged incident to her children was difficult because her three youngest sons weren’t old enough to properly understand the situation.
‘I told them, ‘Dad had a little accident at soccer and he’s going to be getting better’,’ she said.
‘My 14-year-old understands the state that his father’s in … He’s getting bombarded on social media as well from his friends and people he knows on Facebook.’
Khoder Yaghi had been refereeing a match between Padstow Hornets and Greenacre Eagles at Padstow Park, in south-west Sydney, on Friday night when the alleged assault occurred
Ms Yaghi said the alleged attack on her husband was so brutal that he didn’t stop bleeding until Sunday.
‘Soccer should be a place that is safe,’ she said.
‘It’s like a religion that everyone can understand – why should anyone be harmed? Whether it’s my husband or anybody else? Why?’
Despite his ordeal, Ms Yaghi said he would never stop playing or refereeing.
‘Nothing can stop him,’ she said. ‘Soccer is in his blood. It’s his passion forever.
From his hospital bed on Sunday, Mr Yaghi told Nine News: ‘I thought I was going to die.’
‘It hurts me more because [Mr Abdullah] is from my community, he’s from my religion, he’s Lebanese like me,’ he said.
‘He [allegedly] jumped over the fence and wanted to start a fight. I just asked him to move away. he wouldn’t move away’.
Mr Abdullah, who was suspended from playing with the Greenacre club for two years for on-field fighting, is alleged to have confronted Mr Yaghi after the final whistle.
However, Seven News reported that associates of Mr Abdullah claim he was first hit with the referee’s flag which sparked the alleged assault.
Photos uploaded to social media show Mr Abdullah’s face badly bruised.
It has emerged that Mr Abdullah played for the same south west Sydney club – the Greenacre Eagles – as Taha Sabbagh (pictured), who was gunned down in front of his 12-year-old son at close range in an alleged underworld hit in March
Mr Abdullah presented himself to Bankstown Police Station on Sunday where he was charged with wounding a person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and affray.
He was refused bail and will appear in Bankstown Local Court on Monday.
It has since emerged that Mr Abdullah played for the same south west Sydney club – the Greenacre Eagles – as Taha Sabbagh, who was gunned down in front of his 12-year-old son at close range in an alleged underworld hit in March.
Associates of Mr Abdullah (pictured with alleged injuries) claim he was first hit
Mr Abdullah, who was suspended from playing with the Greenacre club for two years for on-field fighting, is alleged to have confronted Mr Yaghi after the final whistle.
Horror footage shows Mr Yaghi being pulled to the ground as he tries to cover his face to protect himself from punches and kicks
A crowd quickly formed around the pair with bystanders seen trying to come to the referees aid.
Greenacre Eagles released a statement on Sunday saying it had chosen to withdraw its team from the first-grade MPL competition and is co-operating with police.
‘As a result of the incident that occurred following the conclusion of the match, our club has made the decision to withdraw the team from the competition for the remainder of the 2023 season,’ it read.
‘This serves as a reminder to all that violence will not be tolerated at our club.’
Mr Yaghi has undergone emergency surgery at Sydney’s Liverpool hospital after his jaw was broken in three places
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