Chile U20's fight with police after game

[Kopper]

Tasers used, nice! Did anybody see this?

Soccer team slug it out with police, security

Under-20 tournament preview
Jul 19, 2007 11:59 PM
Gregory Strong
Canadian Press
Neil Davidson
Canadian Press

TORONTO – Anger on the soccer field turned into turmoil off it Thursday night as members of the Chilean under-20 team slugged it out with police and security after a bitter semifinal loss at the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

A member of the Chilean delegation was subdued by taser during the brawl, which developed as players were loading onto their team bus following their ill-tempered 3-0 loss to Argentina in the semifinal at the National Soccer Stadium near the Toronto waterfront.

Nathan Denette said he was outside the stadium with a fellow CP photographer when they heard grumbling then yelling near the Chilean team bus.

"All of a sudden we looked over and there was a big brawl that breaks out, between four or five people," Denette said. "Next thing you know, the bus just unloads and there's eight, 10 players come off the bus and there's just fists flying everywhere, between the cops, the security guards, a couple of ladies were involved that were security.

"It looked like a big dogfight. People throwing fists and cops with their billyclubs out and then all of a sudden it got out of control and a police officer grabbed his taser gun and tasered someone – I don't know if he was a player or if he was part of the team – as soon as that happened, it got even worse."

The bus was parked at the side of the stadium, where a large fence kept hundreds of angry, chanting fans from getting closer. A tow truck arrived later to take the damaged team bus away.

"We heard this big bang . . . it was just commotion after commotion after commotion," Denette said. "Some of the players were trying to get players back on the bus. But some were furious they were trying to get back off the bus. And then they opened up the windows on the bus and were throwing things at the officers. And then all of sudden, they were trying to grab them from the inside of the bus. And it just escalated."

It was not immediately clear whether the man tasered was a player or official with the Chilean team.

Police eventually handcuffed several players, some of them bloodied and screaming, and escorted them back into the dressing room while shocked FIFA and Canadian soccer officials looked on. Several hours after the game ended, Chilean players involved in the fracas were still at the stadium.

"The players are still in the dressing room and we don't know what's going to happen next," Colin Linford, president of the Canadian Soccer Association, told The Canadian Press.

Linford said while FIFA officials were on hand, police had taken charge of the situation. Police were unavailable for comment.

Two Chilean players were ejected during the loss. The game was an ill-tempered affair with nine yellow cards – seven to Chile and two to Argentina – in addition to the two red cards. German referee Wolfgang Stark called 53 fouls – 30 against Chile.

When the final whistle blew, several Chilean players tried to get at the officiating crew. Others stepped in to keep them away. Eventually two police officers escorted the officiating crew off the pitch, but they stopped as they neared the tunnel, eyeing the angry crowd.

Eventually they made a run for it, dashing to the safety of the tunnel below the stands.

The post-match melee happened as reporters were elsewhere in the stadium, attending the coaches' post-match news conference.

"The players were upset. They're young players," Chile coach Jose Sulantay said through an interpreter, referring to the melee on the playing field after the final whistle. "The red card affected them.

"The coaching staff tried to calm them down, but there were upset with the ref and the red cards."

Outside security officials kept reporters at the mixed zone well away from the brawl. Reporters inside the stadium were prevented from coming outside.

Chile is scheduled to play Austria in the third-place game on Sunday before the final between Argentina and the Czech Republic at BMO Field, which has been renamed the National Soccer Stadium during the tournament because of sponsorship issues.

The brawl is a major embarrassment to FIFA, which earlier congratulated organizers for setting a ticket sales record for the tournament. The U-20 competition is FIFA's second biggest tournament, behind only the World Cup.

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/238059

[Bigpapa42]

Heard about it on Sportsnet. I thought the immediate post-match happenings with the ref were bad. This looks far worse. I'd like to see more details on exactly what happened.

[Looogie]

Why am I not surprised?

As an aside, I thoroughly enjoyed tonight's game. Argentinian heritage combined with the events during Canada Day had me smiling ;) Most calls were bad but that's the game, it's never perfect.

[aerez]

One thing to fight on the field, another thing to brawl with police outside of the stadium. Taser the entire classless team.

[HeartandSoul]

Nothing classless about protecting teammates when you perceive them to being mistreated.

[hodgkiss]

thye should just ban chile, uruguay and portugal from entering the tournament for 4 years. damn right that was classless, you wanna fight, go fight with yur own tem that let you down.

[mpok]

Why fans (fans in Canada almost all the time), turn against fans or players? I bet authorities (security for sure) played huge part in this. Fight, express yourself. Authorities and security always treat fans like garbage.

[SweetOwnGoal]

Found this on the u-sector board. I'm not sure of the original source, but it seems legitimate:
Edited: http://www.insidesoccer.net/ is the likely source.

By: Kris Fernandes

Toronto- Members of the Chilean U20 national soccer team were pepper sprayed and 1 player was tasered in a fight with Toronto Police outside of the national soccer stadium after a match Thursday night.

The brawl started after a security guard at BMO field tried to prevent a player from signing autographs to some fans outside the stadium. The player, reported to be forward Alexis Sanchez, turned around and kicked the security guard.

According to numerous eye-witness accounts from Argentinean and Chilean fans about a half-dozen uniformed Toronto Police officers then brought a struggling Sanchez to the ground. Other Chilean players then jumped in to try and grab their teammate. A Chilean delegate told police that the player was suffering from a serious injury and were asked to take it easy on him.

“I saw and heard the Chilean team translator beg the police to not go too rough on him because he had a broken shoulder and the cop pushed him out of the way. The other players came out to try and grab Alexis then the police brought out the pepper spray and one player got tasered, I couldn’t see who, but he just dropped to the ground.” said a Chilean fan who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Chilean team bus suffered a smashed windshield and players were seen throwing projectiles at the police from opened windows while inside of the bus.

Many players including Sanchez were put in handcuffs and were questioned at the stadium. Toronto Police from 14 division said only 1 rowdy Chilean fan was brought in on charges.

Angry stems from an ugly performance

The players and fans were aggravated from a match that saw them eliminated by continental rivals Argentina 3-0 in their heated U20 Semi-final match that was marred by some questionable calls. German referee Wolfgang Stark issued 11 cards in total, 9 of which went to Chile including 2 reds. Infuriated Chilean supporters showed their displeasure throughout the match by throwing various items onto the pitch and one fan even attempted to run at the referee before being tackled by security.

Inside SOCCER photographer, Robert Pavone, said many media members were forced to stay inside the stadium and were then escorted by police to the parking lot opposite from the ruckus.

“A member of stadium security told me that ‘This was a great tournament throughout until tonight. That what happened here was an absolute travesty.’ I couldn’t even take out my camera to take shots of what was going on. You should’ve seen people’s faces inside the stadium. It was unreal.”

Over 50 Chilean fans anxiously waited for the return of their players outside of the team’s hotel.

Led by a massive police escort of 4 motorcycles and several cruisers the players arrived in tournament sponsored minivans at around 1:20am Friday morning. Defender Arturo Vidal limped out of the van and waved to the fans while midfielder Gary Medel looked severely injured and needed an assistant to help him up the stairs to the hotel lobby.

This incident follows a prior fight on Canada Day when approximately 40 supporters of Chile and Canada violently duked it out in section 105 towards the end of their match. Only minor injuries were sustained in that melee.

FIFA has schedule a press conference on Friday where more details are to be released.

If this is true, I anticipate that some apologists will attempt to blame the security guard. That's crap. You do not kick people. Ever. No matter how upset you are at the world. And if, after you kicked someone, you are wrestled to the ground by police then, well, what did you expect?

I'd guess I'm now only getting one game with my ticket Sunday....

[NS Rooney]

thye should just ban chile, uruguay and portugal from entering the tournament for 4 years. damn right that was classless, you wanna fight, go fight with yur own tem that let you down.

I expected some anti-Chile, anti-Portugal etc. rants (see Vitorio thread) and unfortunatly I was right. Yes, the Chile team's anger boiled over and they were emotional but, take an objective look at what happened.

[HoTnickZ]

I expected some anti-Chile, anti-Portugal etc. rants (see Vitorio thread) and unfortunatly I was right. Yes, the Chile team's anger boiled over and they were emotional but, take an objective look at what happened.

What happened?

Chile was dirty, Argentina faked, the ref was bad but Chile's actions were the worst of them all. Ultimately, they were beaten soundly.

This is par course for some South American teams, but learn to take your losses like men, not little girls erupting in hissy fits all over the field.

Also I can't believe how little Craig Forrest knows about the game. I think this is why many people in Canada will think they were done such a grave unjustice with all their suppos-ed 'clean, nothing wrong with that' tackles .

[lerxst]

Listen; the phrase "what goes around comes around" certainly applies here. The Chilean squad was flopping all over the field this entire tournament which is a shame considering their quality but what's even worse is how their fans behaved not only this game but against Canada as well. Let's not forget the booing of the Canadian national anthem. I'll bet the Portuguese weren't shedding any tears for the Chileans either. Remember the quarter final?

I was there last night and the game was poorly officiated but that's no way to conduct yourself. First of all, you don't run onto the ********ing field and attempt to attack the official and secondly you don't toss coins at the officials either. Chileans were saying that they were being treated like animals? Well those actions indicate that some of them were behaving like animals. I have no sympathy whatsoever. Furthermore, those players took liberties with the security and police force that you or I would most certainly get subdued and arrested for. Now if we resisted arrest, we would have had our asses kicked and rightfully so. Just because you're in another country doesn't mean you have free reign. Could you imagine if Canadian players had done the same thing in Chile? They'd probably be beaten black and blue and thrown in prison. I'm sorry, karma is a bitch.

[NS Rooney]

Nothing classless about protecting teammates when you perceive them to being mistreated.

I agree. The sad thing about this game is that everyone expected an exciting game of soccer, what with the two most exciting, talented attack minded teams facing off. What went wrong? Did the Chile team not give their best? Did the Chile team not try to play the best game possible and play without cheating? No they gave their very best even when they were down a man and then, two men.
What happened was that an equally talented - possibly more talented - Argentina team decided that it was necessary to cheat in order to win. Dive, dive and dive again was the game plan. That's cheating and it must be dealt with going forward. A very stupid referee who lost control is the ultimate villan. When Vidal finally took a cue from Argentina and took his own dive the ref bought into that "simulation" as well. That does prove that the ref was not biased. It also proves that he is an idiot and had no business being involved in the tournament. This is one case where the ref made all the difference in the game. Lets hope they assign a competant ref for the final. A couple of yellows early on for simulation could make the final worth watching. Spotting a dive is not rocket science: the player goes up in the air, both legs fly up and hit his butt and he rolls around holding his head like he was smacked by a 2X4. Duh. Who hurts the game the most, a group of hardworking honest footballers who were over emotional about being robbed of a legitimate chance to go to the final or a bunch of cheats who were outdone in diving skills only by the Italians in the world cup? I'm getting to a point where I'm only going to watch the English game.

[SweetOwnGoal]

Updates and a photo on the CP story:
http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Soccer/article/238059


A FIFA spokesman said early Friday that no arrests had been made, although the entire Chile team was detained by police at the stadium after the incident.

"All (Chilean) players have been released from custody of the police to care of the Chilean delegation," FIFA spokesman John Schumacher said.

(snip)

FIFA, the world governing body of soccer, held a news conference at the stadium at 1:15 a.m. shortly after the players were allowed to leave.

"The entire situation is under investigation by FIFA, the LOC (local organizing committee), the police authorities in Toronto as well as the Chilean delegation," said Schumacher.

"The Chilean players were detained by the police to de-escalate the situation that was taking place in front of the stadium," he added.



There is a press conference scheduled for later today. No word yet on whether the third place game will still take place.

[lerxst]

Of course the officiating was awful; that's besides the point. YOU SIMPLY DO NOT RUSH THE FIELD AND ATTACK OFFICIALS IN ANY SPORT. PERIOD! The Chilean players went at the official at the end of the game. Who the hell behaves that way? They were a disgrace and now they're blaming our police force? I'm ********ing disgusted!

[ridv34]

Who the hell behaves that way?I believe Portugal and Uruguay...

[The Prophet]

This the reason the English hate the Argentinians diving b*tches you touch them and they fall.

[Wangy]

Chile aren't exactly model soccer players either.

[1TOFC]

What happened?

Chile was dirty, Argentina faked, the ref was bad but Chile's actions were the worst of them all. Ultimately, they were beaten soundly.

This is par course for some South American teams, but learn to take your losses like men, not little girls erupting in hissy fits all over the field.

Also I can't believe how little Craig Forrest knows about the game. I think this is why many people in Canada will think they were done such a grave unjustice with all their suppos-ed 'clean, nothing wrong with that' tackles .

Got to step in here. Craig Forrest has forgotten more about the game than an asshole like you will ever know. He called it right on the button. Argetina was diving and faking all over the field and the bought and paid for ref made
a travesty of the game. In 40+ years of watching the game i have never seen such a travesty in the way this game was called.
And for the Police force they just showed the world what a bunch of ********ing assholes they are. Why would you tazer and pepper sparay un armed people.
Enough said

[NS Rooney]

Of course the officiating was awful; that's besides the point. YOU SIMPLY DO NOT RUSH THE FIELD AND ATTACK OFFICIALS IN ANY SPORT. PERIOD! The Chilean players went at the official at the end of the game. Who the hell behaves that way? They were a disgrace and now they're blaming our police force? I'm ********ing disgusted!

So you think "our police force" is above reproach. Hello! We're talking about the Toronto police, right? The Toronto police are spinning the hell out of this thing and that's a shame because the Chilean team can't respond. I did hear one eye witness on CBC say that she saw a police officer tazer one of the Chili player (the one with the injured shoulder) and it was only then that the other players got involved. Toronto City Hall is scared to death of the Toronto police so don't expect them to investigate. HOWEVER, Chili has filed a complaint with the Canadian government and maybe there will be a fair and impartial investigation. Geeze. Maybe we have hit the big time. International attention! I do hope that the police behaved in an exemplary fashion, but I don't think in a democracy, we should blindly support the police untill all the evidence is in.

[1TOFC]

So you think "our police force" is above reproach. Hello! We're talking about the Toronto police, right? The Toronto police are spinning the hell out of this thing and that's a shame because the Chilean team can't respond. I did hear one eye witness on CBC say that she saw a police officer tazer one of the Chili player (the one with the injured shoulder) and it was only then that the other players got involved. Toronto City Hall is scared to death of the Toronto police so don't expect them to investigate. HOWEVER, Chili has filed a complaint with the Canadian government and maybe there will be a fair and impartial investigation. Geeze. Maybe we have hit the big time. International attention! I do hope that the police behaved in an exemplary fashion, but I don't think in a democracy, we should blindly support the police untill all the evidence is in.

I heard the same thing, our police force is coropt from top to bottom. WHy would you tazer an unarmed person with one arm in a sling. Exsessive force for sure.