The clashes between the Esmad of the Police and the popular bar of Los Del Sur in the Atanasio Girardot stadium last Sunday in the preview of the match between Atlético Nacional and América de Cali They once again revealed the uncontrolled problem that these fans have become in the country’s stadiums.
(Read: ‘There are no guarantees to be able to play in peace in Atanasio’: Mayor’s Office).
Even the mayor of Medellín, Daniel Quintero, who is traveling abroad, stated that he will not tolerate violence. “I have to put up to 800 police officers for each party. We will not lend the stadium to Nacional until minimum security conditions are agreed between the bar and directives and surveillance is paid for by the team. I prefer the police officers taking care of the people in the streets,” he noted.
The recent events were generated after the rupture of relations between this sector of the fans and the leadership of Nacional. However, they are not the only facts, which leads to the question of who watches over these acts of violence in the stadiums of the country.
In the case of Atlético Nacional, for several years before, some agreements had been taking place, according to managers, such as ticket office, economic aid and logistics. But last Sunday, among the decisions made by the Nacional directives, is the suspension of the economic benefits of the bar.
“For us, all fans are equally important and for this reason we firmly believe that no one should have privileges over others,” the club reported.
Since the fences in the stadium – which separated the stands from the playing field – were erected in 2011, there was an agreement between the team and the bar for logistical work.
(Of interest: Atlético Nacional: the millionaire figure that it would cost to fix Atanasio’s damage).
This implied ticket office —some 500 tickets per game—, hiring and good behavior, as revealed by the Secretary of Citizen Participation, Santiago Preciado.
President Navarro, in an interview with Win Sports, explained that they were also paid for the “outings” of the team at the beginning of the matches and for taking care of the visiting fans. “If the fans of América and Millonarios cannot enter here, and the classics are well defined, then what fans were they taking care of.”
Those were some of the benefits that the club took away from Los del Sur, after the meeting in which all kinds of relations were cut off. According to the manager, the decision was made due to the economic deficit that did not accept such demands.
(More: They rescue a group of 17 walkers who were lost in Antioquia).
However, from the bar they indicated that the directives never showed up at said meeting and that is why the decision was made to hold a protest.
Given what happened, The Medellín authorities indicated that they would not lend the stadium to the green team of Antioquia for their next matches, indicating that what happened is the responsibility of Nacional.
The Esmad and the Police were in charge of breaking up the riots on Sunday.
a bad deal
The silent coexistence between clubs and bars, which no one wants to admit out loud, continues to be a dangerous factor that gives power to violent groups of fans. In 2017, Jorge Perdomo, as president of Dimayor, proposed that the teams approve severe punishments for clubs and managers for acts of violence and sponsorship of bars. The failure.
(We recommend: Six years later justice came for a social leader murdered in Medellín).
“The necessary commitment from the clubs was lacking to cut all relations with their barras bravas, which is proven, they subsidize them with ticket office, logistics contracts, etc. (…). The big clubs have never had a real will. I must acknowledge the effort of Millonarios, who took a grandstand from the barras bravas and turned it into a family grandstand,” Perdomo recently said. To this is added the fragility of the law that does not contemplate severe punishments in this type of case.
The riots started before the match between Atlético Nacional and América.
Juan Pablo Ramírez, Secretary of Government of Medellín, indicated that what happened is reason enough not to facilitate this space while the minimum conditions do not exist and the risks are minimized.
(Keep reading: ‘We want an exercise of co-responsibility’: Vice Minister of the Interior on what happened in the Medellín stadium).
On Monday afternoon, a meeting was held at the Soccer Coexistence Table in which the parties involved participated to determine if Atlético Nacional could continue playing in the ‘colossus of 74’ or should look for a stadium. The conclusion was that the paisa team will play its next match for the Copa Libertadores at the Metropolitano stadium of Barranquilla and without public.
Nation and Sports
TIME
2023-04-18 04:05:48
#Fan #violence #stadiums #remains #unresolved #Colombia #Medellín #Colombia
