Flare furore forces Estudiantes abandonment
Reuters - Tuesday 22 November 2011, 00:35
Angry Estudiantes captain
Juan Sebastian Veron remonstrated with his own team's fans after
flares they threw left Banfield goalkeeper Cristian Lucchetti
disorientated and caused their match to be suspended on Monday.
Lucchetti suffered "acoustic trauma on two occasions,"
Banfield's doctor Jorge Aguerreche said after the goalkeeper
went down holding his ears from the explosions of two flares
thrown from the home supporters' end of the ground early in the
Apertura championship match.
"The two explosions [seven minutes apart] caused a state of
general confusion [in Lucchetti] but he won't suffer
consequences," Aguerreche told reporters outside the visitors'
dressing room after the match was suspended in the 13th minute.
Lucchetti played on after the first incident and Banfield
took a 1-0 lead with a goal by Uruguayan former Estudiantes
striker Rodrigo Lopez in the ninth minute of the match between
the bottom two teams in the Apertura standings.
"Get down... get down or I'll beat you up," Veron shouted to
fans who had clambered up the perimeter fencing. Strikers Gaston
Fernandez and Mauro Boselli joined Veron in remonstrating with
the fans from behind the goal after the second explosion.
Estudiantes President Enrique Lombardi said the club were
trying to eradicate the hooligan element from their matches.
"We're fighting against these groups [of hooligans] and it
seems this is the price we have to pay [but] we'll continue to
fight against [football] violence," Lombardi told match
broadcasters TV Publica.
NO GUARANTEES
Referee Fernando Echenique suspended the match after
Lucchetti told him he could not play on and the chief of the
police contingent at the ground said he could not guarantee fans
would not cause more trouble. There was no explanation as to how
fans had managed to smuggle flares into the ground.
Estudiantes, Apertura champions 11 months ago, and Banfield,
who won the title in 2009, have struggled this season both
taking only 10 points from 14 matches.
Three weeks ago, San Lorenzo's home match against All Boys
was postponed after a "barra brava" hardcore fan attacked a
player after a training session.
San Lorenzo, who have dropped into the bottom four in the
parallel relegation standings after taking only one point in
their last four matches, sacked coach Omar Asad after Sunday's
1-0 home defeat by Union.
Relegation in Argentina is calculated on points averages
over three seasons and, as things stand, San Lorenzo will need a
play-off against a Nacional B side at the end
of the season in June to try to save their first division
status.
With Olimpo (17th with 14 points) also sacking Omar de
Felippe on Monday, seven coaches have left their jobs during the
Apertura championship, first of two in the Argentine season,
which kicked off in August.