Match was stopped early in the first half after incident made continuity of play impractical

The match of the 23rd round of the Argentine Championship between Gimnasia La Plata and Boca Juniors , this Thursday, was marked by a serious incident.

The game was stopped in the 8th minute of the first half after a wave of tear gas invaded the stadium and caused discomfort in players, coaching staff and fans present at the Juan Carmelo Zerillo stadium. The match ended up being suspended.

Athletes and coaches were seen on the field protecting their eyes and with red eyes as a result of tear gas.

According to the newspaper “Olé!”, there was a confrontation between the police and fans outside the stadium and tear gas was used, so the substance ended up invading the premises of the place. There were shots of rubber bullets .

According to reports from those who were at the stadium, some fans began to feel sick. The local organization allowed fans to leave the stands and stay on the field while the situation tried to normalize.

Defender and Boca captain Marcos Rojo was seen helping fans out of the stands and onto the pitch.

The match was then officially suspended. So far, no further details are known on when the clash will continue.

Boca is in second place in this phase of Argentina, with 42 points. Gimnasia has 37 points and is in sixth.

Man dies after confusion in match between Gimnasia and Boca Juniors, says Argentine press

There was confrontation between police and fans in the surroundings of the stadium; tear gas invaded the place

The problems started even before kick-off — in a fight outside the stadium. According to local media, fans of the home team found closed doors minutes before the match and got involved in friction with the police.

In the melee, which included rubber bullets, tear gas canisters were thrown by the authorities. The chaotic scene reached the stands of the Juan Carmelo Zerillo stadium, which was packed. That’s because the gas that came from the surroundings of the place “invaded” the field and, around 8 minutes of the 1st half, when the duel was at 0 to 0, the referee had to stop the match. The athletes were sent to the locker rooms. With no players present, the pitch was immediately released for medical attention to those who were hit by the gas. According to the local press, one fan died: César Regueiro, 57 years old. The fan went into cardiac arrest amid the turmoil and, while being taken to hospital, did not survive. In a statement published on Twitter, Boca said that both its players and members of the coaching staff “are doing well”. The AFA, the governing body of Argentine football , also spoke out. “The AFA strongly repudiates the publicly known events that took place today in the vicinity of the Gimnasia stadium and expresses its commitment to continue working to eradicate this type of episodes that tarnish the football festival.”

Injured cameraman and crowded stadium

In the midst of the confusion, a cameraman from TyC Sports, the channel that participated in the broadcast of the match, was hit with three rubber bullets fired by police (watch below). “I was recording. They were repressing and a policeman hit me with three rubber bullets in the groin. It still hurts and burns,” Fernando Rivero told the broadcaster. Despite the scare, his health is good. Shortly after the confusion, Eduardo Aparicio, head of Argentina’s Agency for the Prevention of Violence in Sport, detailed the overcrowding of the stadium in La Plata. “There were more than eight thousand people around the stadium, which was already at 100% capacity. We took care of both the indoor and outdoor audiences. The police had to repress because they threw stones, and the gases caused the game to be suspended,” he said. to the TyC itself.

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