Cyprus soccer referee's house bombed

The car of a Cypriot soccer referee's wife was damaged by a pipe bomb, which is the firth incident of violence against referees in the span of one year, the referee's association said on Friday.

The General Secretary of the Referee's Association, Charalambos Scapoulis, said a meeting later on Friday will decide measures in reaction to the increasing incidents of violence against soccer referees on the eastern Mediterranean island.

Cypriot referees boycotted soccer fixtures for one week in late January in response to a bomb attack on the house of another referee.@ The office of the Referee's Association was also damaged by a bomb attack in October, 2014.

The latest incident involved an improvised pipe bomb placed against the windshield of a car belonging to the wife of a first division referee in the city of Larnaca.

The explosion in the early hours of Friday caused extensive damage to the car and caused lesser damage to the house of the couple and a neighboring residence.

Police said there were no injuries in the attack.

"I can recall five cases of violence against referees in less than a year. I am greatly worried that we'll have a tragedy if this practice is allowed to continue," Skapoulis said.

He added that referees will decide on Friday night their reaction to the increasing incidents of violence, with all options being open, including abstention from soccer match refereeing.

Cyprus Football Federation chairman Constantinos Koutsokoumnis said the Association stood by the referees but he was opposed to a new boycott of soccer matches.

Six soccer matches are scheduled for Saturday afternoon, marking the end of the regular soccer season before a round of playoff matches to decide the champions and the two teams to be relegated to the second division. Endi