Copa Libertadores Final Postponed a Day After Fans Attack Boca Juniors’ Bus

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River Plate fans clashed with the police on Saturday outside the stadium before the final soccer match of the Copa Libertadores between River Plate and Boca Juniors in Buenos Aires.CreditCreditSebastian Pani/Associated Press

By Rory Smith

Nov. 24, 2018

BUENOS AIRES — A match billed as the biggest in the history of Argentine soccer was thrown into chaos on Saturday after fans attacked the bus carrying Boca Juniors’ players to River Plate’s stadium. After two attempts to delay the start, officials finally agreed to postpone the game until Sunday evening.

Despite the presence of several police officers, a fusillade of items — apparently including cans, bottles, stones and wooden sticks — broke several windows as the bus slowed to turn a corner. The bus was also hit by pepper spray, though it was not immediately clear whether that had been fired by fans or by the police. River Plate fans and the police clashed repeatedly outside the stadium.

When Boca’s players arrived at the stadium, television video showed, many of them were retching and gasping for air. Doctors treated two, Pablo Pérez and Gonzalo Lamardo, for glass in their eyes; several others had been cut by the shards.

#TNTSports | Continúan los incidentes en la cancha de River en la previa de la Superfinal ante Boca. pic.twitter.com/MxMUxlFuCM
— TNT Sports LA (@TNTSportsLA) November 24, 2018

Postponing the game was “common sense,” said Alejandro Dominguez, the president of Conmebol, the competition’s organizer. “There was a gentleman’s agreement between the presidents of the two clubs,” he added. “One did not want to play, and the other did not want to win in these circumstances.”

Fans received medical treatment outside the stadium before a match between River Plate and Boca Juniors on Saturday.CreditMartin Acosta/Reuters

Nearly 70,000 fans had packed the Estadio Monumental for the second leg of the Copa Libertadores final between the two sides, who contest the so-called Superclásico: the most heated, most intense rivalry in South America. In the first leg of the matchup, which has been given the sobriquet La Final de Todos Los Tiempos — the Final for All Time — Boca and River drew, 2-2, two weeks ago.

No Boca supporters were allowed in the stadium because of a ban on visiting fans at any game involving Argentina’s five biggest clubs. The ban was imposed in 2013 to prevent soccer-related violence.

The postponement was not called until about two hours after the original start time, 3 p.m. Eastern. About 15 minutes before that Conmebol declared that kickoff would be delayed by an hour, then later moved the start time back 2 hours 15 minutes. In discussions with officials, Boca said the match should be postponed until Sunday or Wednesday.

Though Boca initially insisted that it wanted the game to go ahead, the club’s executives soon told Conmebol that they did not believe their players were in any condition to do so. Pérez and Lamardo ultimately went to a hospital to establish the extent of their injuries; they were also examined by a medical team from Conmebol.

River’s manager, Marcelo Gallardo, told the authorities that his team did not intend to play if Boca objected. But Conmebol seemed determined that the game should go ahead, in order to meet broadcasting commitments. Several local reports suggested that Mauricio Macri, the president of Argentina, had pushed for the game to proceed.

Boca was informed that — because Conmebol’s doctors had not been able to establish the extent of the injuries suffered by its players — should it refuse to take the field, it would forfeit the game and the trophy. Two Boca players, Carlos Tevez and Fernando Gago, confirmed that they had felt they were being forced to play the game.