Soccer Dad beaten to death by opposing team's Soccer Dad

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Six teenagers and one of their fathers appeared before a Dutch court on Monday to face charges over the killing of a football linesman last year, in a case that shocked the football-mad country.

At a pre-trial hearing, with limited access for the media at the Lelystad courthouse, northeast of Amsterdam, the teenagers and a 51-year-old man whose 16-year-old son was with him in the dock, were all charged with the death of Richard Nieuwenhuizen on December 3.

Nieuwenhuizen, 41, died a day after allegedly being kicked several times in the head during an attack by enraged young opposition footballers shortly after the final whistle of an amateur game.

Following the December 2 assault, seven youths and a man, identified only as El-Hasan D., were subsequently arrested and charged.

The youths and El-Hasan are all charged with homicide, public violence and brutality. Six youths, aged between 16 and 17, as well as El-Hasan remained in custody while a seventh teenager, aged 15, is free but faces similar charges.

All eight are connected to, or are members of, the Nieuw Sloten football club, which played against Nieuwenhuizen's Buitenboys Club in Almere, just west of Amsterdam, when the attack occurred.

Nieuwenhuizen officiated as a linesman in the under-17 match in which his own son also played and was set upon shortly after the final whistle by members of the Nieuw Sloten club. He was allegedly kicked several times in the head but got up and went home.

He became ill a few hours later and died the following day in hospital with his family at his side.

The accused are to go on trial at the end of May, but it is not yet known whether the trial will be open to the public as the accused are minors.

Should the teens be found guilty, they could face between one and two years behind bars in a special facility for children.

The maximum punishment for homicide for adults is 15 years in jail.