The Copa Libertadores Round of 16 second leg match between Boca Juniors and River Plate has been abandoned after Boca fans attacked River players as they walked out to start the second half. The River players appeared to get pepper sprayed, and were in some serious visible distress after the attack.
Boca Juniors fans pepper spray River Plate players, get Super Clasico abandoned
It took an hour and 14 minutes for officials to declare that the match wouldn’t continue River lead the tie 1-0, and there’s no word yet on whether the match will be replayed, restarted from the second half, or forfeited by Boca.
After the incident occurred, FOX Deportes went back and found the footage of fans opening up a seam in the tunnel.
The River players sprayed were seriously affected, with team personnel rushing out with water to help them wash out their eyes.
It was very clear within minutes that the game wouldn’t be able to continue in short order. This is what River midfielder Leonardo Ponzio’s back looked like about 15 minutes after the attack.
#LTenVivo La espalda de Ponzio quemada por el gas pimienta pic.twitter.com/RByaoSWXm3
— La Tercera Deportes (@lt_deportes) May 15, 2015 When the police finally showed up, they collected River Plate’s jerseys as evidence, though it took them quite a while to appear. And the amount of time it took police to arrive at La Bombonera probably contributed to the lengthy delay in making a decision on whether or not the game would continue.
