More than 100 football fans remained in custody Thursday after Argentine and Chilean football supporters fought with knives, sticks, stun grenades and bathroom fittings during a continental competition knock-out tie near Buenos Aires.
An official for Argentina’s Avellaneda-based side Independiente said that 125 people were arrested after Wednesday night's abandoned Copa Sudamericana last-16 decider against Universidad de Chile.
The Chilean government said 19 of its citizens had been hospitalised, including two with life-threatening injuries, in some of the worst sporting violence South America has seen in years.
Trouble broke out at the Estadio Libertadores de América–Ricardo Enrique Bochini after rival fans attacked each other with improvised weapons and stadium fittings.
While both clubs condemned the violence, attention quickly shifted to who was responsible for the security breakdown.
Independiente Club President Néstor Grindetti blamed Chilean supporters for the “unprecedented violence” and demanded sanctions against Universidad de Chile, declaring that his club had “nothing to do with it.”
The Chilean Football Association (ANFP), in turn, condemned what it described as a failure of organisation and pledged to defend its fans against collective punishment.
Argentina’s political leadership also became embroiled in the aftermath. Buenos Aires Province Security Minister Javier Alonso said police had urged suspending the match before half-time, but the decision was delayed by CONMEBOL, the governing body that organises the competition to prioritise television.
Alonso also accused private security of failing to keep cordons between rival supporters.
National security minister Patricia Bullrich pushed back by blaming provincial Governor Axel Kicillof and his administration for tolerating violent hooligan gangs.
Her office argued that the opposition provincial government had primary responsibility for safety at the Avellaneda stadium and had failed to act decisively.
‘Lynching’
Chilean President Gabriel Boric described the incidents as an "unacceptable lynching" and called for justice.
"Violence has no justification, on either side, and we will protect the rights of our citizens without prejudice to the responsibilities that may be established by the justice system," Boric wrote on social media.
The violence appeared to have flared at half-time when fans of the Chilean side began throwing stones, sticks, bottles, and seats at home supporters.
Players and match officials stood on the pitch hands-on-heads as Independiente fans rushed the visitors' enclosure – stripping, beating, and bloodying those who could not, or would not, escape.
One Universidad de Chile fan jumped from the upper tier of the stands to escape his attackers, but miraculously managed to survive with non-life-threatening injuries.
Two fans were later operated on at Hospital Fiorito in Avellaneda for severe head injuries, provincial health authorities confirmed. They remain in intensive care. Others were treated for stab wounds and trauma.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino called the violence "barbaric" and called for "example-setting sanctions.”
"At FIFA, our thoughts are with all the innocent victims, and we hope that the competent authorities will impose exemplary sanctions against the perpetrators of these terrible acts," he wrote in a post on Instagram
Boric said Chile had dispatched Interior Minister Álvaro Elizalde to Buenos Aires to investigate.
'Miracle'
The match was suspended in the 48th minute at 1-1, before being abandoned. Universidad de Chile had won the first leg 1-0 and were leading the tie on aggregate.
Universidad de Chile Club President Michael Clark said two fans were gravely injured and by "miracle no-one is dead."
Graphic images of the violence quickly spread on social media.
Players from both sides appealed for action to be taken.
"This level of violence cannot be tolerated," Chilean international Felipe Loyola, who plays for Independiente, wrote on social media. "I don't know where the police were."
The Chilean FA criticised Independiente’s "passivity" in handling the violence.
As they left the stadium, Independiente fans expressed anger over the policing of the game and the decision to place the visitors in a section near the home fans.
Universidad de Chile’s players left their Buenos Aires hotel for the airport on Thursday without making statements.
On Thursday, a small crowd gathered outside a police station in Avellaneda, out the outskirts of Buenos Aires, waiting for news about friends or relatives detained inside.
Chilean liaison officer Ariel Alarcón said the release or charging of those detained would depend on the offences established by Argentina’s justice system.
Argentine prosecutors confirmed on Thursday that they had opened an investigation, reviewing security camera footage and collecting reports from both police and private security.
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