Peruvian soccer fans attack players, referees

September 4, 2003 Print it

LIMA, Peru -- Soccer fans surged on the field and chased and beat players after a disputed call, leaving 20 people wounded, including 13 players and two referees, police said Thursday.

Videotape showed spectators ripping up seats and trashing the modest stadium. Several players were doused with gasoline, although they were not set on fire.

"They surrounded us. We had to disguise some players as firefighters and we put them in an ambulance," police chief Maj. Pedro Mannucci told The Associated Press by phone. "But a group figured it out and attacked the vehicle, wounding the three players," he said.

The violence took place Sunday after the referee ejected a player with three minutes left in the second division game in the Andean town of Tarma, about 100 miles from Lima. Dos de Mayo was losing 1-0 to visiting Union San Agustin.

Mannucci said two referees, 13 players, a team manager, two fans and two police were wounded. About two dozen police finally restored order, he said.

Four of the approximate 200 violent fans had been detained, police spokeswoman Giovanna Casallo told The Associated Press.

Five people -- two Union San Agustin players, a referee, one police officer and a newspaper photographer -- remained hospitalized Thursday, Casallo said. One of the players, the goalie, was in danger of losing his left eye, she said.

"The public came in with knives, metal rods, sticks and rocks," referee Jorge Javier Anascohe, his face swollen and his nose bandaged, told a Tarma cable channel from his hospital bed.

"The people of Tarma don't deserve soccer," he said.


Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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