Copa crisis
Boca boss pushes for River disqualification
Final between Boca a and River moved outside Argentina
ASUNCION: The t wice-postponed second leg of the Copa Libertadores final between fierce local rivals River Plate and Boca Juniors will be played next month outside Argentina, South American football administrators Conmebol said on Tuesday.
But Boca Juniors president Daniel Angelici said he will take an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport if necessary to back up his argument that River should be disqualified after violence from their fans at the weekend, and the trophy awarded to his side.
Following a meeting with the two Argentine clubs’ presidents in the Paraguayan capital Asuncion, Conmebol said the match would take place on “Dec 8 or 9 outside Argentina” at an as yet undecided venue.
The original second-leg clash between the two Buenos Aires clubs at the weekend was postponed twice after Boca players were injured in an attack on their team bus by River fans using pepper spray and throwing stones and sticks.
Conmebol president Alejandro Dominguez told reporters that “the final cannot be played in Argentina.”
A Conmebol statement said that due to the “violence... that put players, officials and fans at risk... it would not be prudent to play the final in” Argentina.
The tie is delicately poised following a 2-2 draw at Boca’s Bombonera stadium just over two weeks ago.
The second leg had to be postponed after Boca players suffered cuts from broken glass and from smoke inhalation when their bus was attacked by River fans on the way to the Monumental Stadium in the Argentine capital on Saturday.
The match was originally put off for 24 hours before Conmebol announced on Sunday that it was being suspended indefinitely ahead of Tuesday’s meeting at their headquarters in Asuncion.
Dominguez had praised the teams’ presidents on Saturday for coming to “a gentleman’s agreement” in agreeing to delay the match.
But Angelici petitioned the continent’s governing body to award them the trophy.
“We have no intention of playing another final,” he said, vowing to “exhaust all administrative avenues” to get his way.
On Monday, his River counterpart Rodolfo D’Onofrio blasted Angelici’s “betrayal” and branded him “shameful”.
“I’m struggling to believe he cannot keep his promise,” D’Onofrio fumed on Radio Mitre.
“We signed a document and we shook hands.”
Boca have asked Conmebol to apply Article 18 of the body’s rules which includes provisions for possible punishments, including forfeiting a match.
Conmebol’s disciplinary commission opened a dossier on Monday evening, giving River 24 hours to present their defence.
Both Argentina President Mauricio Macri, a fan and former president of Boca, and the mayor of Buenos Aires, Horacio Rodriguez Larreta, have accepted responsibility for the “security failure”.
On Monday, the security minister for the Argentine capital, Martin Ocampo, resigned.
Three years ago, Boca were kicked out of the Copa Libertadores at the last 16 stage after an attack by their fans on River players at half-time of their second-leg clash at the Bombonera.
The game was suspended with River given a walkover and they went on to lift the trophy for the third time.
That time, the attack happened inside the ground where security is the club’s responsibility, whereas on Saturday it took place in the streets, where the state has jurisdiction.
Some potential venues have already expressed an interest in hosting the derby dubbed a “superclasico”, and the most important in Argentine club football history, as it pits the two most popular teams in the country against each other in the
continent’s most prestigious final.
The group that runs the Atletico Mineiro stadium in Brazilian city Belo Horizonte offered on Tuesday to host the match.
That came a day after the Italian city of Genoa offered to host the match, citing cultural links between the city and Italian immigrants to Argentina in the early 20th century.
Another possible venue for the final is Asuncion.
Conmebol said on Tuesday it would foot the bill for both teams, paying for the “costs of the journey, accommodation, food and internal displacements for up to 40 people per delegation.”