Two testimonial statements in the framework of the case that investigates the death of the fan of Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata Cesar “Lolo” Regueiro put the former tripera leadership on the ropes headed by whoever was its president, Gabriel Pellegrinowho this week delivered a letter with his version in relation to the accusation of “culpable havoc”, but these new data open a new research hypothesis that points to the overselling of tickets that put the former leadership in the firing line.
One of the testimonies was that of Rodrigo Arballothe fan who lost his left eye due to the police repression of the force that leads Sergio Berni. In his statement, he assured that the protocol tickets were delivered by people close to club leaders. The young man was accepted as an individual victim in the file and is assisted by lawyers Gustavo Galasso and ezekiel funes. “We have already officially requested that the corresponding AFA, Gymnastics insurance be requested and we do not rule out the responsibility of the organization and the club in the entire event,” Galasso asserted in contact with 0221.com.ar.
The fan’s testimony was strengthened by the statement of the observer of the Argentine Football Association (AFA), Luis Alberto Ballestriniwho held that “many people who entered with a kind of vouchers, not being stopped by anyone, they cut their paperwork, people entered and we don’t know where they came from, there was a kind of endorsement from someone but we don’t know who”. In another passage of his version, he asserted that “there were 3,500 people who entered with an entry that did not correspond”.
As stated in the judicial documents to which this medium accessed, the observer of the mother house of Argentine soccer confirmed that a “report for AFA” was made in which “there are tickets that said ‘bonuses’ that were not accompanied by the general (ticket) or the card, therefore it is not valid for us”. He also confirmed that they “were never informed by the Club”, so “it is an entry that does not appear”.
In the file, together with Pellegrino, the holder of the APREVIDE, edward aparicioand the police chiefs sebastian perea and Juan Manuel Gorbaran. On the other hand, the prosecution of Pellegrino is the gateway to other possible accusations of former leaders of Gymnastics for the crime of “illicit association” which points to a potential overselling of tickets in that match. As he reported 0221.com.ar This is an open line of investigation in which there are still no formal accusations, but the testimonies mentioned gave it muscle for the future.
The file was opened on the night of October 6, 2022 in the framework of a match played by the Gimnasia and Esgrima La Plata clubs that hosted Boca Juniors. For reasons that are trying to be established, hundreds of people were fighting to enter the Bosque stadium, but the doors were closed because the capacity was almost full. In this context, the fans began to throw stones at the police personnel who responded with a battery of tear gas and rubber bullets.
Due to the effect of the wind, the gases entered the stadium, the match was suspended and left one person dead, another fan (Rodrigo Arballo) lost his left eye, his girlfriend received several impacts from rubber bullets in the back and hundreds of fans with respiratory problems who recovered over the course of hours.
320 police officers took part in the security operation at the stadium. The agent Fernando Nahuel Falconstated that “everything begins once the head of service orders the doors to close because APREVIDE informs him that monitoring reports that the stadium’s capacity was complete.”
After the repression, the Buenos Aires Police was removed from the investigation. Instead, experts from the Argentine Federal Police arrived who raised “450 pods served with anti-riot cartridges”. According to an Internal Affairs resolution, Capt. martin market of the Departmental Support Group (GAD) “would have recklessly and without any justification thrown a tear gas bomb and a smoke bomb, which had been scattered around the playing field, causing serious consequences to the people who were in inside the stadium.”
A witness said that the riots began at gate 21, which is on the Bosque side, where a group of between 500 and 800 people were fighting to enter the stadium.
