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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Sunday at least, leadership and determination have been made. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Local time was announced as almost everyone expected: the second leg of the Copa Libertadores final between River Plate and Boca Juniors, which had been postponed to Saturday, would be postponed again.
CONMEBOL, the South American Football Confederation, will meet on Tuesday in Asunción, Paraguay, to discuss the time and place of the second leg. It should also be asked if River will be sanctioned for Saturday's incidents during the bus attack of the Boca team. The windows were broken, letting tear gas into the vehicle, making many players unable to operate.
CONMEBOL's president, Alejandro Domínguez, spoke with controlled fury and was not in the mood to downplay the gravity of the situation.
"The current mentality is that it's a shame," he said, "that we're talking about a situation like this, because of a few misfits, as far as a match is concerned." soccer.
"The image she gave to the world, because of the fault of a few misfits, is wrong. This is not football. This is what we all want. Football is the opposite. It's the athletes, the players, the professionals who live, work, give good examples on and off the pitch, have families, responsibilities and live the football that we all love. "
Jose Romero / AFP / Getty Images
The decision, he said, was made in the interest of fair play, as Boca players are still suffering from the aftermath of the attack. The most serious injury was suffered by midfielder Pablo Pérez, who went to the hospital with an injury at sight Saturday. Although he has returned to the stadium and is included in the starting lineup, he will play at the (first) hour of dispatch arranged at 19:45. local time, his ophthalmologist had warned him not to play Sunday.
"Now," said Domínguez, "we have to analyze this from the point of view of what is sporting and fair. There is a team that has been injured, and we are here for the sake of the show, so that when the XI start of both clubs enter the field, they leave without any excuses, this match is played on a field of equal play, equal conditions … CONMEBOL decided that under these circumstances, there is no sporting equality … it's not just his [Pérez’s] medical condition. There were four or five other players. I think that under these conditions, it makes sense. "
WILSON: Victim of violence, Copa Libertadores suffers last shock
As impressive as his tone is, CONMEBOL still has some serious questions to answer. What happened on Saturday when, according to Carlos Tevez and Fernando Gago, pressure was exerted on Boca for what he was playing. And what was the sequence of events on Sunday when River allowed the fans to enter the stadium and confirmed that the match was to be played 20 minutes before the cancellation? Sunday was less chaotic than Saturday, but that does not say much.
"The organization will be self-critical, but everyone must do it," Domínguez said, "This is not a situation where we can look elsewhere for mistakes." The intolerance, violence, we can not leave them out … I think football is a happiness, a passion, a family, that's what we need to prioritize, and we'll use the time we have to consider everything that and, when we play again, people play football. "
These are fine words, but it is very difficult to realize this vision in a country where 93 people have died as a result of football-related violence over the last 10 years.
Ivan Pisarenko / AFP / Getty Images
"It's not Argentina we love, we know, it's not the majority," Domínguez said. "It is not the Argentine society, they are maladjusted, we must use this time to give a good sign to the world: we can do things well."
But the problem is that it is the Argentine company. Saturday's violence was relatively calm by local standards. There is a problem with a part of society that, with little hope, attributes its identity to football clubs with disturbing fervor – and this probably exceeds CONMEBOL's resolution capacity. Then there are all kinds of issues related to the erosion of trust in the rule of law, all of which seem to go beyond football.
The immediate concern, however, is to determine if and when this game can be played. After all, CONMEBOL is expected to send its champion to the Club World Cup, which will start in the United Arab Emirates on December 12 (although CONMEBOL's competitor will not play his first match until December 18). In the end, however, it may be that River vs. Boca in the final of the Libertadores is simply a match too important to be played forever.
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