Maqueiro is sent off after kicking a player in a Series C match; look

The 1-1 draw between Maringá and Santa Cruz, in the eighth round of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série C, was marred by a disturbance involving a stretcher bearer at the Willie Davids stadium, on the night of last Saturday (23), in Maringá.

The episode happened in the second half, when defender William Alves, from Santa Cruz, fell to the pitch with severe pain in his thigh and needed medical attention. After help arrived, the stretcher bearer, identified as Lucas Catai Ribeiro Rodrigues in the game summary, kicked the player while he was still lying on the field.

The attitude provoked immediate outrage from athletes and members of the Pernambuco club's committee. Goalkeeper Thiago Coelho and midfielder Pedro Favela, as well as members of the medical department, headed towards the stretcher bearer after the attack.

What an absurdity that just happened in Maringá.

The stretcher-bearer kicked William Alves, how crazy. pic.twitter.com/Srm7jgjDM4

- Santa Cruz Analytics (@SCFC_Analytics) May 24, 2026

Referee Fabiano Monteiro dos Santos acted quickly and expelled the official from the match. In the summary, the judge reported that he expelled the stretcher bearer from the game "for kicking the foot of the athlete Willian Augusto Alves Conserva, from the Santa Cruz team, while he was receiving medical attention".

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Source: CNN