Mexican authorities are investigating violence between fans in a soccer match that left, according to official data, 26 injured, three of them seriously, in the city of Querétaro, capital of the state, in central Mexico.
After hours of speculation, and the profuse dissemination of strong videos with violent scenes on social networks, this Sunday, the state governor, Mauricio Kuri, indicated that 26 people, 24 men and two women, were hospitalized. He explained that three have already been discharged, 10 are out of danger, another 10 are in a delicate state, while the remaining three are in serious condition.
“It is a tragedy because, although there are no deaths, we cannot say that it is not a tragedy and we cannot allow it to become politicized,” said the state president at a press conference.
The acts of violence, which occurred on Saturday night, ended with the invasion of the field by fans.
The fight between fans of both teams, started in the stands, grew and ended up on the field, which caused the players to take refuge in the changing rooms and the referee to end the match, actions that all professional football clubs regretted in Mexico.
measures have already been taken
The president of the Mexican soccer league, Mikel Arriola, announced that visiting teams will no longer be allowed to enter the stadiums in the championship matches.
“The visiting team members will not be able to go to the stadiums, we are going to take this determination to ratification at the next meeting with the team owners,” he said at a press conference.
Arriola also mentioned that while the investigations are being carried out, the Querétaro plaza was disabled.
“There cannot be soccer here in Querétaro. The Disciplinary Commission will decide what is going to happen to the stadium and as a preliminary measure there will be no football activity here,” he said.
Other consequences?
The manager dodged the question about whether this act could endanger Mexico being one of the venues, along with the United States and Canada, of the 2026 World Cup.
“The fact has certainly been extraordinary in the media and the short-term challenge is to generate a clear response; give an effective punishment and in this way reverse this process so serious that it eroded our image, ”he explained.
Mikel Arriola added that this Tuesday the league will have an extraordinary meeting with the owners of the 18 teams to determine the actions to be taken, as well as the dates for the continuation of the championship. “In the assembly we will deal with the relations of the teams with their supporters so that they may or may not attend a soccer match.”
The league suspended the three remaining games on the ninth day and the activity of date nine of the women’s league.
What FIFA said
Fifa issued a statement in which it declared itself “dismayed by the tragic incident” that occurred at the La Corregidora stadium in the city of Querétaro during the Querétaro-Atlas match, and encouraged local authorities to do justice quickly in relation to those individuals. responsible.
The governing body of world soccer said it was dismayed and added that “the acts of violence in the La Corregidora stadium are unacceptable and intolerable.”
“Fifa joins the Mexican Football Federation and Concacaf in condemning this incident and encourages local authorities to bring swift justice to those individuals responsible.”
It also points out that, “once again, Fifa wishes to underline that violence must have no place in football and we will continue to work with all parties involved to eradicate it from our sport.”
17
deaths, the figure that was initially discussed, which was later denied.
26
injured were the official data, 10 of them are delicate and 3 serious.
11
years old in December when he visited a sports legend: Gary Player.