“In no way am I leaving,” assured Cerro, victim of the attack on the Aldosivi campus
The midfielder of Aldosivi de Mar del Plata Francisco Cerro, owner of one of the cars that was set on fire last night at the club’s premises after the defeat with Godoy Cruz de Mendoza, guaranteed his continuity “until the end” of his contract, by way of denial of rumors of an early release order.
“In no way am I leaving, I am staying until the end. This, far from being discouraged, generates the opposite. It is an unfortunate fact, logically that we are affected, but we are clear that they are a violent minority that has nothing to do with the feeling of a genuine fan of the club”, he stated on the squad’s return to Buenos Aires, before boarding a bus to Mar del Plata.
A group of unidentified people entered the Aldosivi sports complex on Thursday, located between the city’s port and the Punta Mogotes resort, and set fire to five cars after the defeat against Godoy Cruz (0-2) in Mendoza.
After two consecutive falls and three in the last four matches of the Professional League, the “Tiburón” occupies the penultimate place in the table of averages, which would imply its descent to the second division at the end of the season.
Cerro, 34 years old, with a valid bond until December 31, said that the act of violence “does not solve anything” in the team’s sporting present. “We need peace of mind to work and this generates the opposite, but we trust ourselves a lot and we are going to go out,” he assured.
“It never happened to me, I don’t think there is a history of episodes of this magnitude. We are very sorry for what happened,” he added.
The other vandalized cars belong to the players José Devecchi, Javier Iritier and Braian “Chaco” Martínez and the technical assistant Lucas Rodríguez Pagano.
The club’s sports director, Hernán Tillous, denied that any soccer player on the campus had proposed the termination of the contract due to what happened. “Although I would understand, no one made me aware of a situation of this nature. The club will always provide security,” he confirmed.
Regarding the investigation, the leader said: “Justice is acting, the tests have been done this morning and everyone is trying to clarify this fact, which is not justified by any sports result. I want to thank (Eduardo) Aparicio, the owner of Aprevide, which was made available”.
The provincial security official described the attack as “mafia” and ordered that the next local game, on Thursday against Vélez Sarsfield, be played behind closed doors.
“We want it to be clarified as soon as possible, this is already mafia. They went too far, they crossed the line,” the official assumed in dialogue with Télam, on his way to the spa city to collaborate in an investigation that fell to the federal Justice.
