AMSTERDAM (AP) — A Dutch judge has ordered three young footballers suspected of involvement in the fatal beating of a volunteer linesman to be detained for two weeks while investigations continue.
The youths, two aged 15 and the other 16, were arraigned at a behind-closed-doors hearing on Thursday on suspicion of manslaughter, assault and public violence.
Linesman Richard Nieuwenhuizen died on Monday, a day after he was punched and kicked in the head by players following a match in Almere just outside Amsterdam involving youth teams from clubs Buitenboys and Nieuw Sloten.
Nieuwenhuizen's death after officiating a match his son played in triggered a wave of public grief and soul-searching in the football-mad Netherlands.
The country's FA has cancelled all amateur matches this weekend as a mark of respect.
