River Plate face disqualification from Copa Libertadores final over fan violence as authority meets
South American football federation CONMEBOL could disqualify River Plate from the Copa Libertadores final after their fans ambushed the Boca Juniors team bus ahead of Saturday's decisive 2nd leg, forcing the game to be postponed.
The authority is meeting on Tuesday in Paraguay with both clubs' presidents Rodolfo D'Onofrio from River Plate and his Boca counterpart Daniel Angelici present, to decide what action to take over violent scenes which led to the cancellation.
River could be disqualified, handing the biggest trophy on the continent to arch rivals Boca. The game could also take place at a neutral venue.
Boca players were injured by shards of glass when River fans attacked their bus as it made its way to El Monumental stadium for the match, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and suffered the effects of tear gas fired by police to disperse the unruly crowds.
The match was delayed several times and eventually postponed by 24 hours. The game was once again postponed when Boca submitted an application to CONMEBOL to have the game postponed further in a request to have the match "played under equal conditions".
The news was greeted with anger from the 70,000 fans inside the stadium and ugly scenes spilled out into the streets, where police made 29 arrests and fired rubber bullets into the crowd.
Before the game, a woman was filmed taping flares to a young child, which went viral online, and for which she was later arrested.
Footage of #RiverPlate fans vandalizing the #BocaJuniors bus as it was arriving El Monumental. This game might be cancelled due to this disgusting act. #CopaLibertadorespic.twitter.com/aDLN8lafuM
— Jose (@JmesaSports) November 24, 2018
The Boca Juniors players are completely out of it. They look shaken up by the bus attack.We await the decision whether it will be postponed by an hour of if it will be played at all today. Boca are pushing for a postponement. #CopaLibertadorespic.twitter.com/5AifT1iOxI
— R1Finesse (@R1Finesse) November 24, 2018
Boca's driver reportedly fainted during the attack, forcing a nearby member of the team to take the wheel of the vehicle, which was traveling at high speed.
The score is poised all level at 2-2 since the 1st leg at Boca's stadium La Bombonera, ahead of the much anticipated and all important second leg.
