Soccer-Brazilian club president quits after relegation death threats

The president of Brazilian second division club Paysandu has resigned after armed men threatened to kill him if the club is relegated, his sister said on Thursday.

Sergio Serra quit because of what the club said were "aggressions suffered in the presence of his family."

His sister Cristina Serra said on Facebook that two armed men on motorcycles approached him on Sunday night when he was walking with his wife and children in Belem, the Amazonian city where the club is based.

"One of them, his face covered with a shirt said, 'I know where you live. If Paysandu go down to the Serie C I'll end you, and your wife and that crazy son,'" Serra wrote, adding that one of his sons is autistic. "My brother was very shaken and took the only decision possible under the circumstances, to resign."

Paysandu are one of northern Brazil's biggest clubs but have fallen on hard times and languish in 16th place in Serie B, just one spot above the relegation zone.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)