Some announcements made in the last hours about a series of preventive measures that will be adopted to guarantee security in the classic match that Gimnasia and Estudiantes will play this Sunday, related to issues such as the actions of the Police, the itinerary of the fans in their entry and exit, the security rings that will be set in the operation and the capacity for which the stadium of the first of the named entities will be enabled, which will act as a venue, yesterday anticipated part of the measures that will be put into practice to guarantee a peaceful development of the meeting.
Added to this in previous days were meetings between managers and former players of both clubs, in which they agreed on the need for a football match not to serve as an excuse for serious incidents to break out, as, unfortunately, often happens. .
On this occasion, the fact that one of the most traditional Argentine soccer classics is being talked about makes not only the sporting passion rise in tone, but also often serves as an excuse for the barrabravas to get out of hand, originating from there very serious incidents, both inside and outside the stadiums.
It is worth remembering, for greater abundance, that there are plenty of precedents of violence between groups of barrabravas from Estudiantes and Gimnasia, with the use of Molotov cocktails, with riots that have included crossfires, stones, fist bumps and the painful balance of people injured and arrested. As said, the same thing has been happening for too long in many other cities and stadiums in the country, in scandalous episodes related to professional football.
It is also known that, especially in the classic matches, there was no shortage of prior police checks and various measures aimed at avoiding incidents. Nearly 2,000 troops deployed in one of the last matches between River and Boca, plus nearly 1,000 private security guards and 500 UTEDyC controls, with entry turnstiles, could not avoid the very serious disorders that occurred.
These considerations do not attempt to translate any type of demerit to the prevention measures announced by the authorities and the rapprochements made between managers of both clubs so that a classic can be played in peace, but, on the contrary, what they seek is that they deepen and that Above all, these attitudes are extended over time, so necessary to create a culture of concord typical of the sportsmanship spirit and principles that make for the best social coexistence. It is to be expected, then, that the La Plata classic can be played as normal next Sunday.
It is well known that there are minority groups in soccer -the well-known barrabravas- who use this sport for criminal purposes, who attack with Molotov cocktails, flares, weapons of all kinds and who always leave, after the irrational incidents that unleash, the balance of dead and injured people. This is what has been happening for too long in Argentine soccer and these groups must be eradicated, with the support of the police forces, the courts and the clubs.
There are proven examples, worthy of imitation, such as the one that was presented in England to combat the feared “hooligans” -fans that unleashed tragedies in various English and European stadiums- until in 1989, through the joint decisions adopted by the British State , the Police, soccer clubs and private companies managed to completely eradicate them.
