A football match was postponed in southern Brazil on Saturday after fans injured several players by throwing rocks and other unidentified objects at their team bus in Porto Alegre. (More Football News)
The football body in Rio Grande do Sul state said in a statement it had made the decision to postpone the Internacional vs Gremio local derby in Brazilian Serie A1 after Gremio players were hurt near the Beira Rio stadium.
Gremio chairman Romildo Bolzan told media he refused to play because several of their players still had shattered glass from the bus windows on their bodies when they took a pre-match shower. He did not give the number of footballers who had been injured.
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“We strongly repudiate the criminal acts suffered when the delegation arrived at the Beira-Rio stadium. Cases like this, which unfortunately have become commonplace in sport, do not represent what football really means,” Gremio said in a statement on Twitter.
Bolzan added Paraguayan midfielder Mathias Villasanti, who was going to start for Gremio, had head trauma and was taken to a hospital, but has since recovered. Local police did not make any arrests in connection with the case.
This is the second violent incident involving Brazilian fans and local clubs. On Thursday soccer club Bahia had three of its players injured by a homemade explosive that detonated inside the team’s bus on its way to a match.
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Hours after the incident, the team played Sampaio Correia in a match for the Copa do Nordeste, a regional championship in Brazil’s northeast. Bahia won 2-0, a result that players barely celebrated after the match.
Bahia state police said in a statement they are investigating the incident, which took place in the club’s hometown of Salvador. Goalkeeper Danilo Fernandes was taken to a hospital due to shattered glass in his face.
Local media reports say Bahia fans are among the suspects, in what seemed to be an attempt to intimidate players to deliver better results. No suspects have been arrested in connection with the case.
“International comes here to express vehemently the opposition to this violence that has happened with constant. It is unfortunate that this happened. Inter will contribute in every way to identify those who did this. Inter agrees not to play the match. But he worries about the technical imbalance of the championship. Let's talk calmly to solve it," Internacional president Alessandro Barcellos said after the incident.
