The incidents in the run-up to the match between River and Argentinos Juniors, the tragic day of Ascenso last weekend with the two fans dead in the Primera Nacional matches between Chacarita and Deportivo Maipú of Mendoza and Gimnasia y Esgrima of that province and Belgrano defenders and the suspension due to incidents in the First B match of Cañuelas and Ferrocarril Midland revealed the precarious policy regarding sports security that Minister Patricia Bullrich has decided to carry out. The appointment of Franco Berlin, his former personal driver and a 25-year-old law student with no experience in a critical, very high-risk area, reveals an underestimation of the problem. And it anticipates new and serious episodes that may continue to cost lives in the short term.
Two crimes in twenty-four hours and on the first date of a championship is not the best way to start a management. And that is what has happened to the novice Berlin. The bars have given a brutal welcome message to the inexperienced official. And we will have to see what receipt he accuses and what character and backbone Berlin exhibits to fight the murderers and drug traffickers who take refuge in the passion of football, to deal with police, leaders and politicians who view the issue as a lesser evil or part of religion, and to communicate with the authorities of the provinces. Berlin does not even recognize himself as someone linked to football or knowledgeable about its problems. It is an improvised one that Bullrich put in the lion’s cage and then threw the key into the river.
In line with what is being seen in the Plaza de los dos Congresos, the fear that runs through the ball world is that Berlin is truly just a figurehead. And let Bullrich be the one who makes the underlying decisions and wants to solve the problem of violence in his own way, putting bullets and police gas in the stands. What happened in Chacarita – this Tuesday they closed their stadium – and in Mendoza can happen again at any time. The internal staff of the bars are on the verge of their business and there is concern about what could happen to the fans of the largest teams who, in addition to being numerous, are located in marginal areas of the city of Buenos Aires and the suburbs. And also from La Plata, Rosario, Córdoba, Mendoza and Tucumán. There is a lot of money and few scruples at stake.
Violence in football is one of the many issues that Argentine democracy has not been able to resolve for forty years. And it requires a multidisciplinary approach that far exceeds the repressive chapter with which Minister Bullrich seems determined to accumulate power. Prosecuting and resolving it requires an expert view and not that of a fallen off the cot like Berlin. It was said. But it is worth reiterating: her appointment to the highest level of national sports security reveals the underestimation of a problem that stains the Argentine tribunes with blood. Meanwhile, the ball continues running as if nothing had happened on the green grass.
2024-02-06 16:12:59
#Bullrich #underestimates #violence #football
