SPORTS> Feature and Column
|
SPORTS> Feature and Column
|
|
No end in sight to Argentine football violence
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-10-03 15:23 The perpetrator was attacked by the supporters around him before being arrested and given a life ban by the club. This was a rare case of tough action being taken against a supporter. The clubs and the AFA are often criticised for treating the barras bravas with kid gloves. The AFA has been reluctant to dock points from clubs over the behaviour of supporters, a solution which many feel would reduce the violence, and dithers over taking any action at all. So far, no decision has been made by the AFA on any of the three first division matches which were interrupted. LOWER DIVISIONS Sometimes in the past the championship has been long finished before the AFA has finally made a decision on games which had been suspended. Huracan, relegated to the second division in July 2003, made the briefest of returns to the top flight four months later to finish a match which had been suspended before they had gone down. After months of indecision, the AFA ruled that their game against Olimpo, which had been scoreless when play was stopped in the 74th minute, should be finished and the teams played two halves of eight minutes. The real trouble, however, goes on in the lower divisions. On September 12, service on one of Buenos Aires's busiest suburban railway lines was interrupted when fans of Claypole and Argentino de Quilmes clashed on a train after a game in Primera D, the fifth division. Three carriages were destroyed, 15 people were injured, including three seriously, and there were 88 arrests. A week earlier, Claypole's ground had been the scene of more violence when fans from both teams scaled the perimeter fence and fought a pitched battle on the field, forcing the players to flee. Even the corner flags were used as weapons as fans kicked and punched each other while the players hid in the dressing rooms. The match had been played on a Monday afternoon instead of in the evening -- as a security precaution.
|
