A Mexican soccer game descended into mayhem as violent clashes broke out between fans of opposing sides, leaving at least two people dead.
The match, being held at a stadium in the city of Querétaro, northwest of Mexico City, was called off just after the second half had got underway following an hour of gameplay between Queretaro and Atlas, with the visitors holding a 1-0 lead.
Fans of the hated rivals were caught on camera attacking one another, including throwing chairs and hurling metal trash cans. Authorities say at least 22 people were injured, two of them critically.
Initial reports painted an even more dire casualty count, claiming that up to 17 people dead and 44 injured.
VERY STRONG IMAGES FROM QUERÉTARO CORREGIDORA STADIUM. The bars fought brutally, there are wounded and unofficially dead. NO TO VIOLENCE IN STADIUMS, IN SPORTS, IN FOOTBALL. pic.twitter.com/sq28Xldhxu
— Fęrnando Męjicanoş 🏈 🏀 ⚽ ⚾ 🇬🇹 (@NandoSportsNews) March 6, 2022
Graphic videos and photos circulated on social networks showed apparent fans motionless on the ground, in some cases stripped naked and covered with blood.
VERY STRONG IMAGES FROM QUERÉTARO CORREGIDORA STADIUM. The bars fought brutally, there are wounded and unofficially dead. NO TO VIOLENCE IN STADIUMS, IN SPORTS, IN FOOTBALL. pic.twitter.com/sq28Xldhxu
— Fęrnando Męjicanoş 🏈 🏀 ⚽ ⚾ 🇬🇹 (@NandoSportsNews) March 6, 2022
As the fighting broke out in the stands, panicked spectators could be seen running onto the field, at which point the match was suspended.
Players from visiting Atlas quickly fled to the locker rooms as did some from the Queretaro side.
Other Queretaro players, including Uruguayan goalie Washington Aguerre, stayed near the bench trying to calm the fans.
After several minutes some of the fights moved to the field where they continued punching and kicking. Some people were armed with chairs and metal bars.
In shocking footage posted to social media, groups of men could be seen dragging people across the ground outside the stadium.
One fan could be seen pulling a knife to cut the nets of one goal. Others destroyed one side’s bench and some fought in the tunnel to the field.
People were then seen being beaten and kicked with their clothes being ripped off.
Another man could be seen being beaten and whipped.
‘So far there is no report of deaths; 22 people injured, nine of them taken to the General Hospital and of these, two are critical,’ said the Queretaro state civil protection agency.
‘The rest are stable. It should be mentioned that all of those injured are male and at this moment it’s been confirmed that four were from the state of Jalisco.’
‘I strongly condemn today’s violence at the Corregidora Stadium,’ the governor of Querétaro State, Mauricio Kuri, wrote on Twitter. ‘I have given instructions to apply the law with all its consequences. In Querétaro there is no impunity.’
The defending champions of the Mexican soccer league, Liga MX, Atlas from Guadalajara were beating Querétaro’s team 1-0 when the fighting began.
The violence spilled over onto the field and out of the stadium field and into the area around the stadium, according to videos shared online.
Security personnel opened the gates to the field so that fans, including women and children, could escape the stands.
The league condemned the violence in a message on its official Twitter account. League President Mikel Arriola later said the game would not be resumed Saturday.
He said those responsible for the lack of security in the stadium would be punished.
Liga MX said ‘an in-depth investigation into what happened in the stands, on the pitch and outside the building during the match.’
