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Chile officials blame T.O. police for soccer brawl

darmil

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http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070720/Chile_FIFA_070720/20070720?hub=TopStories

Not sure if this is a good place for this mods changed if you will.
I think the police did their jobs this is Canada not Europe .We don't put up with this sort of thing anymore even in Edmonton on Canada day or Oilers playoffs cops don't screw around.They stop brawls quick so they don't get out of hand.(We have learned from this behaviour.)


Chile officials blame T.O. police for soccer brawl

Updated Fri. Jul. 20 2007 9:30 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

An angry post-match confrontation between Chilean soccer players and Toronto police has escalated to become an international incident, with officials in Santiago laying the blame squarely on Canadian authorities.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet told local reporters she was dismayed with the use of "unjustified aggression" by Toronto police after a bloody brawl following a FIFA U-20 World Cup match late Thursday.

"In our judgment, what happened was particularly serious because the Chilean delegation suffered unjustified aggression," she said.

Her government is lodging a formal complaint with Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay to demand an explanation for why police used "such unusual methods'' to deal with the situation.

But Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who just visited Chile a few days ago, said only that "international soccer matches are hotly contested and often become very emotional."

He added that "There are processes in Canada by which the authorities review these kinds of things and I don't intend to comment any further."

Toronto police say they were responding to aggressive behaviour with necessary force.

At a packed press conference on Friday, Chilean Football Federation President Harold Mayne-Nicholls apologized for the behaviour of the team, but slammed the police response.

"I personally saw that the police of Toronto did not act as our police is used to acting with people that are just playing a football game,'' said Mayne-Nicholls.

"For us, as the chairman of the Football Federation of Chile, we cannot accept those kind of things coming from the police. Our players are 19-year-old, 20-year-old kids. They were playing football and they never deserved the treatment they were receiving.''

Mayne-Nicholls wouldn't say what prompted the fight, only that the players were relaxed in the changing room after the match.

"I'm sure they are completely innocent on this but I want to know exactly what happened,'' he said.

Mayne-Nicholls told reporters that the Federation is waiting for a final report to learn exactly what transpired.

Despite the friction, the president of the Chilean Football Federation assured media the players were prepared for their match against Austria for the third-place spot on Sunday.

The consul general of Chile also weighed in on Friday, saying Toronto police need to do more than just apologize for Thursday night's brawl with members of the Chilean FIFA U-20 soccer team.

Apology not enough

"I don't think a mere apology would be enough, I don't think so," said Ricardo Plaza. "Clearly something much more serious needs to be done. This is a serious problem and it needs a serious solution.

Speaking with CTV News, Plaza said police were rude to him when he showed up at the stadium after learning of the scuffle that took place outside the National Soccer Stadium.

He accused the police of using excessive force with the players, all of whom are under the age of 20. Instead of protecting the players, they attacked them, he said.

"They used extreme, excessive force, not used in appropriate way," he said. "I can't understand how they could react in such a way. It's not understandable and it's unacceptable."

Tensions erupt

Tensions between the two teams competing in the FIFA U-20 World Cup semi-final reached a boiling point after Chile lost to Argentina 3-0.

German referee Wolfgang Stark called 53 fouls -- 30 against Chile. Two of their members were eventually ejected during the game.

During the game, nine yellow cards were issued to the team while two yellow cards were issued to the opposing Argentina team. A yellow card is considered a serious warning -- two of them in a single game and the player is shown a red card, which means ejection.

Emotions were running high among players, angry at what they said were unfair calls by referees.

When the final whistle blew and Chile had been shut out 3-0, the team started to go after the referees, egged on by an angry public audience. However, police ushered the refs away to the tunnels underneath the stands.

Later outside the stadium, an altercation erupted between police and athletes as they headed to their bus.

A reporter with The Canadian Press said he heard people yelling near the Chilean team bus after the game. A scuffle then broke out between four or five people, and quickly escalated.

'A big dogfight'

"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," said reporter Nathan Denette.

"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."

A police officer then used a Taser to subdue one of the people in the melee, though it was unclear if he was a player or an official with the Chilean team.

"As soon as that happened, it got even worse," Denette said.

Hundreds of angry and chanting fans were kept at a distance, separated by a fence as FIFA and Canadian officials looked on in shock.

Police soon got a handle on the situation, handcuffing team members, many of them bloodied and screaming, and escorting them back into the dressing room where they remained detained for several hours.

"They hit me with an electrical current and I fainted,'' player Isaias Perralta told Chilean media. "When I regained consciousness, I saw 10 police officers were hitting me and throwing acid in my face.''

All 21 players from the Chilean under-20 soccer team were detained by police.

Eventually, police let them all go without making a single arrest.

"All (Chilean) players have been released from custody of the police to care of the Chilean delegation,'' FIFA spokesman John Schumacher said. "The Chilean players were detained by the police to de-escalate the situation that was taking place in front of the stadium."

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

FIFA President Sepp Blatter told reporters at a press conference on Friday that the association had asked the relevant authorities in Toronto to report details of their probe back to his organization.

Police reaction

Toronto Police Chief William Blair released a statement Friday outlining what happened.

"My officers were forced to intervene, initially, to protect the referees. As the teams were leaving the stadium, an argument broke out between a member of the Chilean team and a rival fan," he said. "My officers were forced to intervene, again, to end the dispute. Members of the Chilean team then decided to direct some of their aggressive behaviour towards my officers."

Blair said the officers did what they had to do to control the situation.

"The job of my officers was to respond in a firm, but fair, manner to end that violence. They are trained to do so, and that is what they did," he said.

"We will look, in detail, into what happened last night to see what changes, if any, we need to make to the policing arrangements for Sunday's matches."

There are no plans to investigate the matter further, although police may respond to the allegations levelled against them, said Toronto police spokesman Const. George Schuurman.

"As far as I know, it's a case closed,'' he said.

"It happened last night, people were arrested, they were investigated, they were released, no charges -- and that's the end of it.''

Toronto Mayor David Miller called the incident "regretful" considering the tremendous success of the games so far.

However, he wouldn't comment on the behaviour of the police force.

"Until the police investigation is complete, I can't comment on any action police took," he said.

"I do know the inspector in charge showed tremendous good sense to return all players to the custody of their coach.

'Upset with the ref'

"The players were upset. They're young players,'' Chile coach Jose Sulantay said at a post-match press conference 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 they were upset with the ref and the red cards.''

While Sulantay explained away his players' frustration to reporters, the brawl was breaking out outside the stadium.

Chile is expected to play Austria Sunday for a third-place finish before the finals between Argentina and Czech Republic.

Plaza said he hopes the team will recover from Thursday night's incident in time for the game.

"I hope they will recover and will be assisted and will be able to play on Sunday as if nothing happened," he said. "It will be very difficult. They will have the incident in the back of their minds."

The under-20 competition is FIFA's largest tournament after the World Cup. The organization was congratulated for setting record ticket sales for the tournament at BMO Field.

The field is being dubbed the National Soccer Stadium during the tournament because of issues around sponsorship.
Not sure if this is a good place for this mods changed if you will.
I think the police did their jobs this is Canada not Europe .We don't put up with this sort of thing even in Edmonton on Canada day or Oilers playoffs cops don't screw around.
 
Not sure if this is a good place for this mods changed if you will.
I think the police did their jobs this is Canada not Europe .

Chile is in South america,

And the European police are much more strict than our LOE with reagards to Hooliganism, they had to learn the hard way.

dileas

tess
 
The Usual Disclaimer and Beware of Glass Castles:
Chile suspends 6 players for drunken rampage
Captain will miss World Cup qualifier for destroying hotel furnitureUpdated: 11:27 a.m. MT July 11, 2007
SANTIAGO, Chile - Chile’s soccer federation suspended six players — including captain Jorge Valdivia — from the upcoming World Cup qualifiers for going on a drunken rampage at the Copa America in Venezuela.

In addition to being suspended from the national team for 20 matches, Valdivia, Jorge Vargas, Pablo Contreras, Reinaldo Navia, Rodrigo Tello and Alvaro Ormeno were fined their $7,200 bonus for helping Chile reach the quarterfinals of the South American championship.

Chilean federation general manager Gustavo Camelio announced the punishment while reading a short statement in Chile on Tuesday

The announcement comes a day after Nelson Acosta resigned as manager of the Chilean team, which returned home following a 6-1 defeat by Brazil in the quarterfinals.

After Chile qualified for the quarterfinals with scoreless draw against Mexico, Acosta gave permission for his players to leave the hotel in Puerto Ordaz, where the team was based.

But when they returned before dawn in a drunken state after a night out, the group led by Valdivia allegedly destroyed furniture in their hotel lobby and insulted other hotel guests.

Camelio did not describe in detail how much damage was caused, but said the interviews with hotel staff, federation employees traveling with the team and four of the six players involved supported media reports about the incident.
The majority of the players would not comment on the sanctions, but Santiago daily El Mercurio quoted Valdivia, who plays for Brazil’s Palmeiras, as saying “he wasn’t interested” in discussing the suspension.

The suspension probably means that none of the players will play in the 18-game South American qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup, beginning in September.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19712465/


 
MikeH said:
I think the police did their jobs this is Canada not Europe .We don't put up with this sort of thing even in Edmonton on Canada day or Oilers playoffs cops don't screw around.

I think you meant to say "this is Canada not South America"..
 
Suck it up butter-cup! You lost STFU, get on the bus and go home.  (good game BTW - for the most part)
 
This is firkin hilarious. First they loose a game (BOOOOO)  they act like a bunch of kids punks(Mommy we Didn't win)!. The police stop the violence before bi-standers get hurt. (What do you think was going to happen?


GO BACK TO CHILE YOU IDIOTS.

If you act like dumb punks you get treated like Dumb punks.

Either way Kudos to you Toronto Police Service. Good job taking care of a sticky situation:)
 
Well, it seems we have now entered the world of the Strategic Constable.  Perhaps the CF should run a course for the TPS on how to behave in front of the cameras.
 
Some of things being said by Chileans and "Chilean-Canadians" are absolutely ridiculous:

The "anglo-saxon" Toronto police are racist. They "brutally" attacked the soccer players and Chilean journalists who were just doing their jobs.

"Chilean-Canadians" are ashamed to be Canadian.

In the same breath, they advocate violence against the German referee after he was repeatedly assaulted by Chilean players.
 
"They hit me with an electrical current and I fainted,'' player Isaias Perralta told Chilean media. "When I regained consciousness, I saw 10 police officers were hitting me and throwing acid in my face.''

Priceless. I wonder if the electrical current was the Emperor Palpatine (Star Wars) type or more of an X-Men type power?
 
I was meaning this is Canada not Europe cause of all the fighting that goes on there with all the soccer games. I know Chile is on south America guess soccer gets people violent all over the world.
 
Yep happens everywhere,

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/world/2007-02-22-latin-america-violence_x.htm

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/world/events/1998/worldcup/flashback/4escobar.html

One great movie to watch is football factory, about the British lifestyle.

dileas

tess

 
This is not black and white. I saw the game. Argentines were diving and the ref made some really unfair calls. And not one, a bunch. The audience had also been loudly booing the unfair calls.  In fact a fan ran onto the field after the ref  during the game and it was Chilean player who stopped him. The Chilean players did not attack the ref. They did go up to him after the game, and frankly, I don't blame them. A few police by that time were  standing near  the ref.  at the end of the game to protect him from everyone.  Even I felt like punching the guy and I am not in the demographic, if you catch my drift. I think  this guy had an ax to grind.

The problems started with having the replays available for the audience and players to see, but not the ref to review their calls.  It incensed the crowd and the players. Yet there was no formal complaint  by the Chilean coach for the many bad calls.  I don't know what happened after the game, but I felt really sorry for these  teenagers who  were playing well, were treated unfairly and  had no way to  blow off their  incredible frustration. I am surprised they  held on so long before losing their tempers, if they did and there is no evidence of  exactly what happened yet.  Yes, brawling is wrong, but this is really not a case of  drunken unprovoked hooligans looking for trouble. This is a systemic problem and there are no easy  villians and heroes.    Did the players again get between the cops and fans afterwards? Who knows.  And this can happen in Canada. Remember the  Vancouver Stanley cup riot? Perhaps different precipitators, but we are not immune to  sports  related violence.

 
visitor said:
  They did go up to him after the game, and frankly, I don't blame them.

::)
This morning I heard that if you have nothing nice to say about someone then
 
I blame the officials in Santiago for not smacking their kids as often. Not Ottawa.



note: just kidding about the smacking deal by the way.


;D
 
visitor said:
Even I felt like punching the guy and I am not in the demographic, if you catch my drift.

I rest my case. I suppose Toronto police were officially cheering for Argentina too. Gimme a break. What possible motivation would the cops have for using a taser or pepper spray other than to pacify unruly individuals who just lost the most important game of their lives and let it get to their heads? Quite frankly, the accusations that police kept the Chilean players from greeting their adoring fans is preposterous. You could see on the pitch after the game just what was about to ensue. Later, they were about to kick the snot out of an Argentine fan that was heckling them and when police stepped in to calm the situation, the Chilean players lost control and turned their aggression on police. It boils down to one simple thing: poor sportsmanship.
 
They're NOT teenagers, they're grown men, many of them already stinking rich with fat professional contracts.  The Chileans were hard done by in the refereeing department, no question.  That doesn't excuse the fact that the players manhandled the officials after the game.  THE REFEREE IS UNTOUCHABLE.  That was drilled into me as a 6 year old back in that place where the game was invented.  The cops should have been in the stands as soon as the first projectile was thrown at the officials, cracking heads, in my book.  And last time I was electrocuted, beaten by 10 cops, and had acid thrown in my face, I was unable to talk to the press for at least a few days.  They were in a pissy mood, and looking for a way to vent a testosterone and adrenaline cocktail.
 
Why the angry responses? If you read my  post in it's entirety,  I was not defending the Chilean players, neither was I  defending the police. I am trying to analyse the situation for precipitating factors in order to surmise how it might be avoided in the future.  Wrong site, I guess.
 
A lot of grief in the world seems to  be caused by taking isolated comments out of context,  jumping to conclusions,  acting on wrong or insufficient information,  taking sides before hearing all the information etc. There are enough situations like that  that cannot be helped, do we have to add to them at other times?

Can't we all just get along?
 
Scotch kiss.

Alot of the things in this world can be solved when people think before they speak.  Two ears one mouth I will let you do the math.

Otherwise, good onya, the round is on you.

dileas

tess
 
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