AVELLANEDA: Argentina has released 104 Chilean nationals detained following a violent brawl that prematurely ended a Copa Sudamericana knockout match.
The fighting erupted during Wednesday’s second-leg encounter between Independiente and Universidad de Chile at Buenos Aires’ Libertadores de America stadium.
Chilean diplomatic sources confirmed that fans stripped of their documents during the violence received temporary travel papers to return home.
“They beat me with clubs and iron bars in the stands, they stole everything from me,“ Ignacio Castro, a 38-year-old Chilean psychologist with facial bruises, told AFP outside the Chilean consulate in Buenos Aires.
“When I went down to get help from the police, they took me to the hospital, stitched me up and then arrested me,“ he said.
An Argentine official stated that 125 people were arrested after the match was abandoned after 48 minutes, with 19 injured including two in serious condition.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric told reporters his government is considering legal action but did not specify against whom.
“I think it is reasonable ... to file a complaint against the people who carried out this kind of aggression,“ Boric said.
“Nothing justified the barbarity or the lynching that occurred,“ Chilean Interior Minister Alvaro Elizalde told reporters outside the hospital where two Chilean men underwent surgery.
One fan jumped from the stands after being cornered by Argentine supporters, with a roof below cushioning his fall and saving his life according to a Chilean official.
A stun grenade was among objects hurled by fans as the match was initially suspended shortly after half time before being abandoned completely.
Independiente’s stadium has been closed pending a court-ordered investigation into the incident that left bullet cases, rocks, torn seats, iron pieces and ripped dry wall littering the stands.
“The prosecutor requested the closure because there are blood stains in the stands and forensic investigations are still pending,“ Javier Alonso, Security Minister of Buenos Aires, told local Radio10.
He confirmed that “some 20 legal cases” are likely following the incident involving security failures.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino called the violence “barbaric” and demanded “example-setting sanctions” that could include club disqualifications.
South American football has experienced hundreds of fan violence deaths across the continent over the past two decades. – AFP
