In Indonesia they still mourn his dead and injured in sport’s greatest tragedy of this century. Bar violence, stampede, police reaction, tear gas, burning of patrol cars and at least 125 dead and 323 wounded. The nightmare of death. Dante would put the demon in that true hell choking on Judas’s head and a soccer ball between his jaws. The horror.
A disgrace
It is a misfortune that is repeated all over the planet: in Mexico, with the pitched battle in a match between Queretaro and Atlas with terrifying images of naked people without moving (unofficially there was talk of 17 deaths, officially none were reported); in Argentina, with the murders by bullets and beatings in recent weeks; in London, in the streets around Wembley, with the clash between the fearsome English and German hooligans; in Spain, with the fights of the ultras every eight days away from the TV cameras and the stadiums.
In Colombia, the criminal gangs attacked police officers and chased the former Cali technician in Tuluá Mayer Candelo and several players. And, recently, there were battles between Union and Junior fans; between the same of the Union, in game against Bucaramanga; among Junior fans, the invasion in Valledupar, in B. The complaint made by Candelo, in the VBar program, of Caracol Radio, is of the utmost seriousness: “Everything was premeditated (…) You know that the fans, the barristas, or whatever you want to call them, don’t live that solvent. When they go to other cities they ask for the ‘boletica’, but in Tuluá they ate chops,” he said, leaving in the air the idea that someone (some manager?) organized the riot to force their departure, which, already for yes, it was sung.
The English model, the one that is shown as the example of success on the planet, what it did was get the brutes out of the stadiums, with severe repressive measures, police persecution, real judicialization, and making the value of the tickets more expensive, almost like if they were for the opera at the Scala in Milan or the MET gala in New York.
Here in Colombia, it is undeniable that several of the most important clubs maintain an evil collusion with the criminal gangs that, in general, are criminal groups, foci of micro-trafficking, theft, ticket resale, extortion and intimidation.
And while the world is racking its brains to get the violence out of the stadiums, in Bogotá, the Mayor’s Office started a pilot plan to put El Campín back into the Millonarios barra brava (Blue commands), the only team in the country that banished them and restored to the families the stands that were taken by force by the violent.
This plan indicates that there should be two separate stands for the brave bars (it is also BlueRain) with 6,000 jobs between them. They are enemy bars.
political theme
In football circles it is whispered that this decision is a “suggestion” of the Government. One of the attendees at the meeting of the Minister of Sport, Maria Isabel Urrutia, with some team presidents before her inauguration, told me that she said, “Let’s see how we can help those guys.” That version grew after a meeting of the minister with the bars. I asked Urrutia about that supposed “suggestion”. She denied it. She said that since her office no instruction or decree has been issued in this regard and that he could hardly do it, since the stadiums belong to the municipalities.
I called the director of the Sports and Recreation Institute, Blanca Durán, who rejected the question: “It is an issue that the soccer commission handles with the Secretary of Government. They are the ones who should speak out.” That being the case, it is indeed a political issue.
I spoke, then, with the Secretary of Government, Philip Jimenezwho said that he is a soccer lover, a furious fan of Santa Fe, that he was a barrista and that he is convinced of working through soccer for the benefit of non-violent fans and young people in vulnerable conditions.
“One thing is the barristas and another, the violent ones. Against the violent ones who are part of a criminal dynamic, all the strong hand. I myself have reported them to the Prosecutor’s Office and have prohibited the entry of Cali or Nacional fans. Yes, we have revived the ‘Goals in Peace’ program and we will not allow it to become an extortion center in exchange for jobs. The work in the local councils with the bars is very productive. The issue has a stick, support and options for vulnerable youth. He is a pilot, and we will see.”
the president of millionairesEnrique Camacho said: “It is a very sensitive matter. We agree with a single grandstand for bars and keep the family one”.
My position is ‘zero tolerance’ with criminal gangs. The whole world mourns their violence and is taking them out of the stadiums. He’s not putting them in.
Meluk tells him
GABRIEL MELUK
Sports Editor
@MelukLeCuenta
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