SANTIAGO - A Peruvian referee who was to officiate at a Copa Sudamericana soccer match in Chile was arrested on arriving in the country on Tuesday on an outstanding warrant tied to a 1997 dagga case.

SANTIAGO - A Peruvian referee who was to officiate at a Copa Sudamericana soccer match in Chile was arrested on arriving in the country on Tuesday on an outstanding warrant tied to a 1997 dagga case.

Chilean police took Georges Buckley into custody at the airport in the capital Santiago.

He was later released after appearing in court and ordered not to leave Chile until the presiding judge had issued a ruling. Buckley was arrested in 1997 for smoking dagga in public as he was preparing to enter a concert, the communications office for Chile's judiciary said.

A student at the time, Buckley ignored an order to appear in court and returned to Peru, it said.

Buckley was scheduled to referee the match between Chile's Union Espanola and Colombia's La Equidad on Tuesday night.

Peruvian Victor Hugo Carrillo replaced him. - Reuters