In a top flight game of football, over 1400 fans invaded the pitch resulting in the game being abandoned. This happened in the encounter between Deportivo Cali and Cortulua in the Colombia’s Primera A league.
The game was being played on Wednesday in Estadio Doce de Octubre, the home stadium for club Cortulua.
Home side scored the opening goal after 20 minutes had been played. They extended their lead with a penalty scored by Feiver Mercado later in the game.
However, in the 81st minute, the game was stopped as a massive number of visiting fans entered the pitch. An estimated 1400 and more fans entered on the pitch and started attacking the players and coaching staff, both verbally and physically.
While most players and referees, upon sensing the danger, successfully left the pitch before the invasion. However, a few players and staff who could not escape came under the attack of the angry fans.
One of the player was the main striker of Deportivo Cali who received some beating and kicks in the process by invading fans who had come all the way to support them.
The manager of the team, Mayer Candelo also came under the attack and got injured.
Deportivo Cali has already issued an official statement requesting that local authorities interfere to avoid a similar occurrence from being repeated in the future.
The statement from Deportivo Cali read as: “
“The Cali Sports Association, Executive Committee, President Luis Fernando Mena, Professional Staff, Officials and employees emphatically reject the aggression, harassment and violence suffered by our team during the match against Cortulua.
‘It clearly condemns any violent act against our players and coaching staff.
‘We respectfully ask the government and sports authorities to intervene to avoid a tragedy in the future that mourns our sport.”
Meanwhile, Cortulua issued their own statement, stating that they had verified the supporters that invaded the field during the play and will make the information accessible to local authorities to act upon as per the rules.
Source: dailymail.co.uk, colombia.as.com
