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Moscow - One of Russia's leading Premier League football referees is feared to have been killed when a passenger jet crashed onto a highway in the north of the country, reports said on Tuesday.
Vladimir Pettai, 38, who has been a top-flight Russian referee since 2003 and in 2010 earned the status of a FIFA referee, was among the 44 killed in the accident outside Petrozavodsk airport, the RIA Novosti news agency said.
The name V. Pettai appears on the list of passengers who were on the flight published by the emergencies ministry and is not among the list of eight people who survived the disaster.
RIA Novosti said his death, while not announced officially, had been confirmed in sporting circles and at the scene of the disaster.
Only days earlier, Pettai had refereed a match between Russian Premier League sides Dinamo and Rubin Kazan, the 100th match in the Russian championships where he had been the top official.
Vladimir Pettai, 38, who has been a top-flight Russian referee since 2003 and in 2010 earned the status of a FIFA referee, was among the 44 killed in the accident outside Petrozavodsk airport, the RIA Novosti news agency said.
The name V. Pettai appears on the list of passengers who were on the flight published by the emergencies ministry and is not among the list of eight people who survived the disaster.
RIA Novosti said his death, while not announced officially, had been confirmed in sporting circles and at the scene of the disaster.
Only days earlier, Pettai had refereed a match between Russian Premier League sides Dinamo and Rubin Kazan, the 100th match in the Russian championships where he had been the top official.
