Teenage footballers detained in linesman attack

AMSTERDAM (AP) -Dutch police say they have arrested three teenage footballers suspected of badly beating a linesman after a match near Amsterdam.

Police say the 41-year-old linesman collapsed after the beating in the town of Almere on Sunday and is in critical condition in the hospital.

The three suspects, whose ages range from 15 to 16, were detained in their homes Monday morning.

The players were from the Amsterdam club Nieuw Sloten and were playing a youth match at Buitenboys in Almere.

Nieuw Sloten says in a statement on its website it has banned the players involved and pulled their team out of the league.

The statement says such incidents "do not belong on a football field.''