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Monday, 28 May 2012

Football Fan Shot in Argentina



Two people were being treated Sunday for bullet wounds after a shooting that claimed the life of a 21-year-old member of a gang of Argentine soccer hooligans.

The shooting occurred Saturday in Buenos Aires outside a stadium before a first division match between Lanus and All Boys.

Officials identified the dead man as Daniel Sosa, who was shot in the chest as three motorcycles passed by and gunmen opened fire.

Violence inside and outside stadiums has intensified in Argentina with at least five people dying this year in soccer-related violence, according to nonprofit group Let's Save Football.

Juan Moretti, director of the Hospital Zonal General de Agudos Narciso Lopez de Lanus, said neither of the other two men hit during the shooting had suffered life-threatening injuries.

Moretti also said that two other people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries after the attack, but fled before being treated. He said they got away "amid the confusion."

The incident is the latest of the unrelenting violence that haunts the game in Argentina.

"It's sad what's happening with football in Argentina," Lanus coach Gabriel Schurrer told reporters. "If one really wanted to get rid of the violence, it could be done. English football was more violent, and they did it. If England and other countries can get rid of it, I don't understand why it can't be done here."

The Argentine Football Association and its president, Julio Grondona, have been widely criticized for doing little to stem the violence. AFA has said it's a social problem and a matter for the police.

Hooligan gangs in Argentina -- known as "barrasbravas" -- have connections with Argentina's top clubs. They run food concessions, black-market tickets and car parking, and receive other favors. In exchange, club officials -- some of whom are high-profile politicians or union leaders -- count on the hooligans for support at political rallies or labor-union protests.

They also have a history of intimidating players.

On Tuesday, Racing Club midfielder Giovanni Moreno was held at gunpoint by hooligans, who stuck a pistol into his knee and promised to "blow off" his leg unless he played better for struggling first-division team, regarded as one of the "big five" in the local game.

The vice president of Independiente -- another of Argentina's most important clubs -- received death threats attributed to a hooligan gang with connections to the club. He resigned earlier in the week, and then recanted and said he was taking a 30-day break away from club business.

In January, a dozen soccer hooligans invaded the delivery room of a Buenos Aires hospital and threatened staff with guns and knives as they tried to avenge the death of a gang member killed in a fight with a rival faction.


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