Violence in soccer, a problem in Latin America

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  • The Mexican justice investigates possible relationships between the barra bravas and organized crime groups after the pitched battle between followers of Querétaro and Atlas

  • The authorities report 26 wounded, but the belief that the deceased are hidden is spreading

The pitched battle in the stands and the playing field between fans of the football teams Queretaro and Atlas has brought to the Mexican courts the logic of a violence that is recurrent in Latin American stadiums. The cruelty that the images have shown cannot, on the other hand, be separated from a ferocious daily life that, at the hands of organized crime, has caused in that country 100,000 fatalities in the last three years alone. Despite such a social drama, Mexico, which was already in charge of the 1970 and 1986 World Cups, should organize the 2026 Cup together with the United States and Canada.

According to the governor of the Querétaro region, Mauricio Curi, what happened this Saturday at the facilities of La Corregidora left 26 injured, of which 19 have already been discharged. “Although there are no deaths, we can’t say it’s not a tragedy and we cannot allow it to become politicized.” His words immediately aroused suspicion. “The problem is that we live in a country in which the president (Andrés Manuel López Obrador) rejects with his hand on his waist a murder even though there is a video with citizens being shot outside a house that acts as a firing squad; This is how it is understood why the fans doubt the authorities who assure that there are no deaths despite the Dantesque scenes. Me I can’t be convinced there are no deceased fans just because a governor says so,” said Carlos Ponce de León, a columnist for the daily Record.

suspension of championships

The League decided to momentarily suspend its official championships. The Federation “regrets and condemns the events that occurred in Querétaro.” In turn, he promised “we will monitor and assist in the investigation process with the corresponding authorities.” The media reported that Querétaro is being evaluated for disaffiliation until the end of this contest due to its main responsibility in the episodes that took place in La Corregidora at 10 minutes of the second half, when local fans attacked the players with kicks, blows and forceful elements. Few supporters of the rival team, who won by one goal.

“We have canceled the services of the private security company GESK9, contracted by the Querétaro Club, and we have suspended five public officials. There will be no impunity,” Governor Kuri assured. Part of the perplexity that these events still cause at this time has to do with police passivity and with an even more disturbing fact: for now there are neither uniformed officers nor detained officials. “They all failed… there is no doubt that in our country we live our own wars and this was just as serious as the execution of people in Michoacán & rdquor ;, said Ulises Gómez, of the Queretaro Newspaper.

For now, a judicial investigation has been opened that seeks to determine the probable links between members of the porras, as they call the brave bars, with the criminal gangs. Some specialists highlight the similarities between the behaviors of violent Mexican groups in stadiums and those of other South American countries, especially Argentines, to the point of having appropriate to their songs.

Incidents in Brazil and Uruguay

Related news

Along with the incidents in Mexico, a fight between fans of Atlético Mineiro and Cruzeiro left at least one dead and one gunshot wounded in Brazil this Sunday. On February 24, two Bahia players were also injured after an explosive device was thrown at the team bus. A week later, a group of Paraná fans invaded the Vila Capanema field in Curitiba with the intention of attacking their team’s players. In addition, the Gremio bus was stoned by fans of Internacional, its closest rival in Porto Alegre, leaving several players injured.

In Uruguay, meanwhile, the fifth date of the Opening Tournament had to be suspended after the threats received by the referees during the matches between Nacional-Torque and Peñarol-Danubio. The one of the violence in the fields is a regional problem.



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