A new dark stage was written this Wednesday in Argentine soccer. What should have been a party ended in tragedy. What should have been a match ended with one person dead and 22 police officers injured. It happened in the meeting between Independent Rivadavia of Mendoza and Velez for the 16th finals of the Argentine Cup, a duel that was played at the Juan Gilberto Funes in San Luis. What happened?
The moment when the police crossed paths with Independiente fans.
According to journalist Milton Godoy on radio Miter, it all started when the Leprosy fans arrived late at the stadium. At that moment, towards the end of the first half, they came across officers at the police search located at the entrance to the popular tribune. That’s where the riots started. “Many of the Independiente Rivadavia fans did not have a ticket, so a confrontation with the police began where this sympathizer ends up losing his life, “he said. Apparently this fan would not have wanted to submit to the search to enter and there “he had an attack.” According to witnesses, they tried to revive him but there was no case. In the early hours of this Thursday still The name of the victim was not known.
The bar of the Mendoza complex had left with ten buses from that province of Cuyo and they arrived in San Luis shortly after the match that defined a passage to the round of 16 began, an instance that Fortín ended up accessing after winning 1-0 with the goal of Abel Osorio. The attempt to quickly enter the field was the trigger that claimed a life.
The people of Independiente Rivadavia in the San Luis stadium (Credit: Rodrigo Ríos)
A COMPLICATED SWELLING
The Independiente fan has several violent records in the recent past. A 26-year-old man lost his life as a result of the confrontation that occurred between the two factions of the Independiente Rivadavia barra brava in January 2021in the vicinity of the Bautista Gargantini stadium, on the eve of the institution’s 108th anniversary.
Violence in the stands forced a meeting to be suspended in February 2020. (REUTERS)
The fans of the Mendoza Leprosy had called themselves to celebrate the club’s birthday, but it all ended in tragedy. It was in the surroundings of Parque San Martín that the two factions clashed, killing Gabriel Osvaldo Videla Parraguez. The victim lived in the Sol y Sierra neighborhood of Godoy Cruz, and had a criminal record.
Violence in the stands forced a meeting to be suspended in February 2020. (REUTERS)
In turn, in 2020, the dispute over the power of the grandstand between the bars forced the suspension of the match of the 16th date of the First National, against Atlanta.