List of sports officials who died while active

Abuse of officials, whether it be physical violence or verbal threats, has been of increasing concern in many sports.

Officials who worked in notable high level amateur sports (such as NCAA Division I college sports and Major Junior ice hockey), and officials who worked world championship or Olympic/Paralympic events shortly before their deaths are treated as professional.

The following are Australian football umpires who died during their careers or officiating assignments.

[81] The following are rugby league match officials/referees who died during their careers or officiating assignments.

The following are rugby union match officials/referees who died during their careers or officiating assignments.

Portrait of a man wearing a dark green Adidas jacket over a neon yellow shirt. He has an earpiece on his left ear.
RPL referee Vladimir Pettay died in the 2011 crash of RusAir Flight 9605
A man wearing a sky blue short sleeve shirt with a league patch on the left breast pocket and a rainbow armband on his left sleeve. He has a watch on his left wrist and he is raising that arm. He is wearing an earpiece on his left ear.
Ligue 1 referee Johan Hamel [ simple ] died of a stroke in 2022
A black and white photo of a man with a handlebar moustache wearing a white jacket and a hat similar to a newsboy cap. He has his hands crossed in front.
VFL umpire Alexander Salton was a casualty of World War I , and is the only VFL/AFL umpire to die in military service
A portrait of an man from the shoulders up with the caption “E. Jenkins (Fitzroy)” at the bottom.
VFL umpire Ern Jenkins died less than three months after the conclusion of the 1927 season
A greyscale photograph of a baseball umpire standing near the bleachers, he is wearing a suit and newsboy cap, and is holding his mask in his left hand.
AL umpire (and Honor Rolls of Baseball inductee) Jack Sheridan died of a heart attack in 1914
A baseball umpire crouched behind home plate, wearing grey slacks, a baby blue polo shirt and an umpire’s mask. Also in frame is the catcher in front of him, the batter swinging at a pitch, the pitcher, and the third base umpire.
NL umpire John McSherry (pictured umpiring a 1985 game) died after collapsing during the Cincinnati Reds 1996 home opener
A baseball umpire crouching with his hands on his knees. He is wearing grey slacks, a black long sleeve jacket with baby blue stripes on the shoulders, black and white gloves, a black cap with the MLB logo on it, and sunglasses.
MLB umpire Eric Cooper died of surgery complications two weeks after working a 2019 postseason game