The second leg of the Chilean Cup quarterfinals between Universidad Católica and Universidad de Chile was suspended on Wednesday due to the firing of fireworks at visiting team goalkeeper Martín Parra. This is the umpteenth embarrassing event in Chilean football.
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The incident occurred five minutes into the match after Universidad Católica took the lead with a controversial penalty goal that equalized the tie.
The maximum penalty was converted by the Argentine Fernando Zampedri, at which point the fans of his team began to launch powerful firecrackers on the goal defended by Martín Parra.
Game suspended after five minutes
Three fell near the goal, 22 years old. Surrounded by smoke and with his hands over his ears, in this situation the match referee ordered the players to return to the locker room.
Meanwhile, Parra was removed on a stretcher and transferred to a hospital in Valparaíso, where the match was played, with an ear injury. He spent the night for observation and, pending discharge, he will have to take at least a week off training due to acute acoustic trauma.
Minutes later, the Federation, in coordination with the security forces and stadium managers, decided to suspend the match indefinitely. Police reported the arrest of two people in connection with the incident.
Universidad de Chile, as well as the media and different institutions demanded that the Federation impose the “heaviest punishment” on Universidad Católica since the match was originally supposed to be played without an audience due to several incidents that took place before.
Controversial decision: the match will resume
However, the highest authority of Chilean soccer, made up of the National Association of Professional Soccer (ANFP) and the Chilean Federation (ANFA), opted this Thursday not to impose a disciplinary sanction and resume the match on a date to be determined.
The president of ANFA, Justo Álvarez, harshly attacked the decision, adopted by four votes in favor and three against, revealing that his organization asked that Universidad Católica be expelled from the competition.
“We don’t agree. If we don’t take a hard line, this will continue to happen. What are we going to wait for? For someone to die,” Álvarez said. “What signal are we sending to the youth, what signal are we sending to the media?”
Rains, it pours
The incident occurs in the midst of a national debate about the capacity of stadiums and the management of security both inside and outside of them.
Colo Colo, the club with the most followers in Chile, was sanctioned in May on two occasions by Conmebol with millionaire fines and closure of the field for the violent action of its fans in the South American Cup, known for causing avalanches at the gates of the stadium. to try to force them and enter the stands irregularly.
also in concerts
This is added to the numerous violent incidents that occur in the country both in sporting events and in other types of shows, such as music concerts.
Last night the concert of the Puerto Rican singer Daddy Yankee ended with avalanches, violence outside and more than 4,000 people who managed to sneak into the National Stadium in Santiago without entering. The organization blamed the security forces for the chaos that was generated and claimed to have complied with the required security protocols.
