The sad images of the confrontation between fans of Querétaro and Atlas continue to go around the world. Viciousness and violence were two of the elements present and preponderant in the snapshots and recordings of the brawl at the Corregidora Stadium.
Two days after the tragic event, the Liga MX has communicated the first sanctions: the Gallos Blancos will not be able to play at home until further notice and the visiting team’s fans will no longer be able to attend the stadiums.
These are the sanctions that have been imposed at the sporting level. The Government of Querétaro reported this Monday that the service of the private security company that was hired for this match was canceled, in addition to the fact that five public officials were suspended due to the unfortunate events recorded at the Corregidora Stadium. However, so far no arrests have been reported for the clashes on Saturday, March 5.
The first sanctions by Liga MX, in the first instance, seem lukewarm. It seems that the true magnitude of the problem has not been dimensioned. According to the most recent journalistic reports, Mexican first division soccer would resume this Friday, March 11, less than a week after the serious event in Querétaro.
The problem with this decision is that it has not been understood that this was not an isolated event, but that the conditions are in place for this to be replicated again in any place in Liga MX. It does not matter if it is San Luis, León, Guadalajara, Puebla, Monterrey, Mexico City or Mazatlán. This, sooner or later, will happen again in some Mexican soccer stadium if the issue is not taken seriously enough and work is done to prevent and attack the problem.
The problem of the bars, or animation groups, as they are euphemistically called, is much deeper and more complex than the solutions the league has offered. These types of situations will not end because they are not allowed to enter the stadium. To find a true solution, Liga MX must take time, analyze and study the situation, go to experts and, now, take their recommendations into account and apply them.
A first decision in the right direction to mitigate violence in stadiums is the process of credentialing fans. To have a more efficient control, guarantee security and be able to establish responsibilities in the event that events such as those of La Corregidora are recorded. Simply put, the league and the teams need to know who their fans are. Likewise, strict security controls must be implemented at the entrance of the stadiums.
The images of the confrontation in Querétaro show that the members of the Gallos Blancos club were armed with objects that, supposedly, cannot be entered into any property. How is it possible that this happened? How these people were able to overcome the entrance control to the stadium? These are some of the questions we all ask ourselves after seeing the images of what happened this weekend.
Many communicators and users of social networks have requested that Liga MX eradicate the bars. But can this really be done? When we speak of these animation groups, we speak in the abstract without considering that they are complex structures that obey various interests. Talking about the elimination of bars, without specific objectives and strategies, is like talking about the elimination of crime.
The solution to this problem must be a collective effort between the three levels of government, Liga MX, the clubs, sociologists, social anthropologists, among other experts with experiences in other parts of the world, sponsors, the media and, of course, , civil society. The end of the violence in the stands of Mexican soccer will not happen overnight, but it must begin to be outlined immediately after the macabre scenes recorded in Querétaro.
#solution #violence #Mexican #soccer #bars