Referee who proposed to boyfriend at match attacked for a second time
Pascal Kaiser proposed to his boyfriend at a football match. (Instagram/carla.antonelli)
German football referee Pascal Kaiser, who was assaulted at his home, just a week after proposing to his boyfriend on the pitch, has been attacked again.
On 30 January, the 29-year-old proposed to his partner, Moritz, at Cologne’s RheinEnergieStadion in front of almost 50,000 spectators ahead of a match between FC Köln and VfL Wolfsburg.
On 7 February, just 20 minutes after informing police of threats he had received, Kaiser was attacked by three men in his garden, leaving him with an injury to his right eye.
However, on 9 February, he was attacked at his home again. According to French sports outlet L’Equipe, two people attacked him in front of his home, beating him in the face and torso.
Kaiser was supposed to be under police protection, but officers only arrived 30 minutes after the attack was reported.
Kaiser, who came out as bisexual in 2021, making him one of a few openly LGBTQ+ referees in professional football, used the proposal to emphasise the need for queer visibility in football.
Carla Antonelli, Spain’s first openly transgender senator, condemned the initial attack on Kaiser, taking to Instagram to share an image of his injured face.
The LGBTQ+ activist’s captioned read: “Terrible message, if you make yourself visible we’ll put you in the closet: Referee Pascal Kaiser, who proposed to his partner before the Cologne-Wolfsburg match, was assaulted at his home. It is known that prior to the assault, the address of Pascal Kaiser’s house had leaked on social media and received direct threats. Police intervened after the attack and Pascal Kaiser is now in a safe place under police protection.”
FC Köln also condemned the attack, sharing: “The sheer hatred behind this cowardly attack confirms in a horrific way just how important our commitment as the FC family is against any form of violence.
“As 1. FC Köln, we stand by our conviction for acceptance, diversity, and equality — in sport and in society, on the pitch and in everyday life.”
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