French referee Johan Hamel died, at the age of 42, after suffering a stroke on Wednesday morning
Hamill was a referee for the Spanish Real Madrid match and Scottish Celtic two weeks ago, in the sixth round of the group stage of the Champions League
The French referee has 136 Ligue 1 appearances since he started in the first division in the 2016/17 season
Hamill appeared for the first time in the Champions League in the Real Madrid match against Celtic, which ended 5/1 for the Spanish team, and this was the last match at the same time
The French referee was running the Lille and Rennes match in the local league on November 6, and he was a fourth referee last Sunday in the Paris Saint-Germain and Auxerre match
After more than 300 matches in his career, Hamill’s sudden shock comes after he suffered a stroke while undergoing routine training on Wednesday
And in an official statement from the International Federation of Football Associations: “The arbitration is in mourning after we learned of the death of our colleague and friend, Johan Hamel, the referee of the French First Division, at the age of 42
He added, “To his family, friends and relatives, we extend our deepest condolences and assure that we will miss him very much
Legendary referee Pierluigi Collina of Italy also paid tribute to Hamel, saying: “The refereeing world and all match officials here at the FIFA World Cup Qatar are united in their grief over the unexpected death of our colleague and friend Johan Harmel
“We collectively send our heartfelt condolences to Johan’s family, relatives and friends,” he concluded
