Boca Juniors have requested Sunday’s rescheduled Copa Libertadores final against River Plate to be suspended following Saturday’s crowd trouble.
River Plate fans attacked the Boca Juniors team bus on Saturday, injuring players as they travelled to the stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Police used tear gas and pepper spray to control the violence, while Boca captain Pablo Perez and midfielder Gonzalo Lamardo were taken to nearby hospitals after suffering injuries.
South American soccer’s governing body, CONMEBOL, rescheduled the game between the arch rivals for Sunday at 5 p.m. local time (3 p.m. ET) but ahead of the match, Boca requested its suspension.
A statement from the club read: “Boca Juniors have on Sunday presented a formal request to CONMEBOL for the Copa Libertadores final to be played in safe conditions, as per the agreement made by the presidents of the South American clubs, Boca and River, Saturday at the Monumental.
“Yesterday evening, Boca requested the game be postponed due to the incidents and it was agreed that the priority was for the match to be played in safe conditions.
“After the violent acts suffered in the vicinity of the stadium, the magnitude and serious consequences for the squad, Boca believe that these conditions are not sufficient and requests the suspension of the match, and that CONMEBOL issues sanctions in correspondence with Article 18.”
Comunicado de prensa | El Club Atlético Boca Juniors realizó este domingo una presentación formal ante la Conmebol para solicitar que la final de la Copa Libertadores se juegue en condiciones de igualdad, tal como se firmó ayer en el Estadio Monumental. 👉 https://t.co/Ym4UTeFlxy pic.twitter.com/s2KGK86zPi
— Boca Jrs. Oficial 🏆🏆 (@BocaJrsOficial) 25 November 2018
CONMEBOL postponed the match until 6 p.m. local time Saturday before kickoff was pushed back again, to 7:15 p.m. Confederation president Alejandro Dominguez then announced the game would take place on Sunday. The decision led to violence inside and outside of the ground with at least 30 people arrested, according to local media. Away supporters are already banned from football matches in Argentina because of recurring violence.
The first leg between the two sides was was delayed 24 hours itself because of a waterlogged pitch at Boca’s stadium. The match took place on Nov. 11 and ended in a 2-2 draw ahead of the return match at River’s Monumental de Nunez Stadium.
Three years ago, a round-of-16 tie between River and Boca in the Copa Libertadores was abandoned at half-time after Boca fans attacked River players with pepper spray in the tunnel. River received a bye into the quarterfinals and Boca was kicked out of the competition.
CONMEBOL did not immediately respond to Boca’s request for the suspension of the 2018 match on Sunday.