On Wednesday, Gianni Infantino, the head of FIFA, said that violence had no place in football. This came after fights broke out before Brazil’s friendlies against Argentina.
During the national songs on Tuesday, there was a fight between rival fans in a stand behind one of the goals at the Maracana stadium in Rio. Brazilian cops confronted fans from Argentina.
For Infantino, this kind of violence has no place in football, not on the pitch and not off it.
“Players, fans, teams and officials deserve a secure environment,” Infantino stated.
Just before the game started, tempers were high in the stands at the Maracana, and Brazilian cops used batons to calm people down.
Lionel Messi and other Argentina players went to the trouble to try to calm things down. At one point, Emi Martinez, the custodian for Argentina and Aston Villa, tried to jump into the sitting area to fight a Brazilian police officer with a stick.
As the fights went on, Messi and the other Argentine players went back to their locker room, where Messi seemed to say, “We’re not playing, we’re leaving.”
“We went to the locker room because it was a way to calm everything down a little,” said Messi. “We went to check on our families and other important people in our lives.” Then we came back.”
After that, Argentina beat Brazil 1-0 thanks to a goal from Nicolas Otamendi. They are now in first place in South American qualifying with 15 points from six games.
Following their third loss in qualifying, Brazil is now in sixth place with seven points from six games, having lost all three of their games.