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Argentine football drags an ugly hangover. What was to be his party turned into a fiasco. The return leg of the Copa Libertadores final (the equivalent of the Champions League in South America) between River Plate and Boca Juniors, the two most popular clubs in the country, has been postponed following violent incidents that have enamelled the pre-match, Saturday, November 24. It will be played on neutral ground, outside Argentina, December 8 or 9, decided the Confederation of South American football (Conmebol). As a symbol of all the madness, and all the drifts, that surround Argentine football.
This final opposed for the first time the enemy brothers of Buenos Aires, 69 titles in the league between them. A sociological and sporting rivalry. On the one hand, River Plate, club of the wealthy district of Nunez, founded in 1901, winner of the Copa Libertadores three times. On the other, Boca Juniors, located in the popular district of La Boca, founded in 1905 and who raised the continental trophy six times.
Between the two, a devouring passion and visceral hatred. And beware of the one in a family who would bring a girlfriend or a boyfriend of the rival hated. "This meeting is an opportunity to demonstrate the maturity of our country"said Mauricio Macri, president of the Argentine Republic, but also big boss of the club Boca Juniors from 1995 to 2007.
"We should have reached the sky, we hit hell"
After the match score of the first leg (2-2), the fans of both clubs waited for the outcome of this double confrontation with impatience and excitement. "The first leg was beautiful, the weather around the meeting was surprisingly calm. But the demons of Argentina have remembered us ", is sorry Nicolas Cougot, editor-in-chief of the site Opposite skylight, specializing especially in South American football.
Sign of the waiting caused by this meeting, 60 000 fans of Boca Juniors had garnished the mythical enclosure of the Bombonera to attend the last training of their protégés. The fans of River, they had not hesitated, during the first leg, to wait for hours in the rain before the postponement of the match overnight due to heavy rains. Almost two thousand applications for accreditation had been submitted by media worldwide and the time of broadcast of the meeting, in Europe in particular, foreshadowed record audiences.
The confrontation will not have taken place, the fault barras bravas River Plate. They attacked the Boca players' bus en route to the Monumental stadium with stones and tear gas, causing the injury to team captain Pablo Pérez, who was taken to the hospital. Two of his teammates were also injured by the icebreakers and many players were inconvenienced by tear gas. "We should have reached the sky, we hit hell. In the image of what is happening in Argentina at the moment »disappointed Delio Onnis, former Italian-Argentinean striker and top scorer in the history of the French championship, who struggles to express the " shame " felt in front of these incidents.
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The mayor of Buenos Aires, Horacio Rodriguez Larreta, directly linked the incidents with the search of the leader of the barra brava River held the day before the meeting and during which 10 million pesos (229 000 euros) and 300 tickets for the final were confiscated there. " The barra brava is the problem, a mafia who infiltrates football for over fifty years, said Sunday Horacio Rodriguez Larreta during a press conference, in remarks reported by the Argentine daily Clarin. They are responsible for these incidents. It's directly related to the episode of the day before. Three hundred people were prevented from going to the stadium and they were the main protagonists of everything that happened. "
Gangrened by the "barras"
"Argentine football is beautiful on the field, but it is completely gangrenous outside by these barras, who are not ultras – it's important to emphasize – but many members of criminal organizations who manage drug trafficking, weapons, resale tickets, etc. ", explains Nicolas Cougot. "This is the only country in the world where we play games without enemy supporters. And despite this, there is still violence ", abounds Delio Onnis, who thinks that these incidents will mark a turning point and that "Things will never be the same again. Football itself is going to recover, but people will not want to go to the stadium anymore. They will not forget ».
This match, which was meant to be a showcase of Argentine football open to the world, only confirmed its ills, in a country where the sport of the king is sometimes a question of life or death – 93 people were killed during the last decade. Is he condemned to live perpetually with this violence? " The barras have acquaintances with several club leaders, up to the highest levels, so that the household is not done. And it will probably never be done because they are the ones who make and break the leaders, is sorry Nicolas Cougot. When we have them barras with you, it's easier to run the club. Some have tried to oppose it and it has not necessarily ended very well … Argentine football is also in the image of his society, plagued by violence, corruption and special interests. "
An analysis shared by Delio Onnis. Former striker struggles to collect "Little light of hope" which would allow his country to get out of the doldrums. "At the moment, Argentina is that. We bring everything back to politics, we get angry with everyone, his father, his sister, his brother … The situation we are living is catastrophic. As to barrasI am very pessimistic, the cleaning will not be done, continues the scorer of Reims and AS Monaco. No matter where or when, he will not watch the second leg. "The evil is deep" and Argentine football could take time to recover.
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