# List of sports officials who died while active

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.
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

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

## 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 |
| Maree Rodebaugh | 56 | shot put | Amateur Athletic Union | internal bleeding after being struck in back during meet | May 29, 1977 |
| Paul Suzuki | 77 | shot put | USA Track & Field | brain injury during pre-meet practice | June 22, 2005 |
| Dieter Strack | 74 | javelin throw | Düsseldorf Athletics (DLV) | impaled during meet | August 26, 2012 |
| Douglas Koban | 75 | hammer throw | USA Track & Field Niagara | brain injury during meet | December 7, 2014 |
| Ethan Roser | 19 | hammer throw | College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin | brain injury during meet | April 22, 2017 |

## Australian rules football

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 | |
| 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 | |
| Greg Sidebottom | 61 | field umpire | Kyabram District Football League | in-game heart attack | April 2, 2016 | |
| Jesse Baird | 26 | goal umpire | Australian Football League | murdered | February 19, 2024 | |

## Baseball

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

### Softball

The following are softball umpires who died during their careers or officiating assignments.
| Name | Age | League | Cause of death | Date of death |
| Ricky Scearce Jr | 60 | University Interscholastic League | in-game heart attack | May 4, 2012 |
| Jeff Reynolds | 65 | Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association | in-game heart attack | May 25, 2016 |
| Rick Rogers | 61 | Softball Ontario | collapsed during tournament | July 21, 2024 |

## Basketball

The following are basketball referees that died during their careers or officiating assignments.
| Name | Age | League | Cause of death | Date of death |
| Troy Raymond | 46 | Sun Belt Conference, Southland Conference | suicide | August 12, 2011 |
| Greg Willard | 54 | National Basketball Association | pancreatic cancer | April 1, 2013 |
| Tony Brown | 55 | National Basketball Association | pancreatic cancer | October 20, 2022 |
| Don McGillicuddy | 56 | Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association | in-game cardiac arrest | March 1, 2024 |

## 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 | |
| Mitch Halpern | 33 | Mendoza def. Álvarez (August 12, 2000, WBA) | suicide | August 20, 2000 | |

## Cricket

The following are cricket umpires who died during their careers or officiating assignments.
| Name | Age | League | Cause of death | Date of death |
| Alcwyn Jenkins | 72 | South Wales Cricket Association | in-game brain injury | July 4, 2009 |
| Hillel Awaskar | 55 | Israel Cricket Association | in-game neck injury | November 30, 2014 |
| John Williams | 80 | Pembroke County Cricket League | in-game brain injury | August 15, 2019 |
| Sumit Bansal | 46 | Delhi & District Cricket Association | cardiac arrest shortly after recovering from in-game injury | October 10, 2021 |

## 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 |
| James Barnhill | 45 | referee | American Football League | heart attack | March 11, 1966 |
| George Young | 45 | umpire | American Football League | brain tumor | September 21, 1969 |
| Jack Vest | 45 | referee | National Football League | motorcycle crash | June 2, 1972 |
| Harry Kessel | 47 | head linesman | National Football League | unknown | October 9, 1972 |
| George Ellis | 53 | field judge | National Football League | unknown illness | July 31, 1974 |
| Vince Jacob | 51 | side judge | National Football League | heart attack | October 26, 1982 |
| Dick Jorgensen | 56 | referee | National Football League | complications of a blood disorder | October 10, 1990 |
| Dave Hamilton | 61 | umpire | National Football League | liver failure | January 9, 1995 |
| Donnie Hampton | 47 | field judge | National Football League | heart attack | January 30, 1995 |
| Bob Lawing | 58 | back judge | National Football League | cancer | May 6, 2010 |
| Carl Madsen | 71 | replay official | National Football League | cardiac arrest while driving home from game | October 24, 2021 |

## 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 |
| Stéphane Provost | 37 | linesman | National Hockey League | motorcycle crash | April 22, 2005 |
| Roland Hedberg | 62 | referee | Swedish Ice Hockey Association | in-game brain injury | January 30, 2010 |
| Butch Mousseau | 48 | referee | Western Collegiate Hockey Association | brain injury during pre-game warmup | March 25, 2016 |
| Pavel Lainka (cs) | 24 | referee | WSM Liga | in-game brain injury | September 10, 2016 |
| Rafael Kadyrov | 47 | referee | Kontinental Hockey League | brain cancer | January 20, 2017 |

## 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 | collapsed after match | August 22, 1925 | |
| Chris Leatherbarrow | 27 | Super League | suicide | November 1, 2015 | |

### 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 |
| Kerry Fitzgerald | 43 | Queensland Rugby Union | heart attack | December 18, 1991 |
| Ian Rogers | 41 | South African Rugby Football Union | cancer | November 26, 1998 |
| Ian Hooper | 60 | Far North Coast Rugby Union | in-match heart attack | April 28, 2019 |

## 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 | |