It could have ended in tragedy: Lionel Messi on crowd brawl

NEW DELHI: Lionel Messi has expressed concern that the crowd trouble which caused a delay in Argentina’s World Cup qualifier against Brazil “could have ended in tragedy”.

“It was bad because we saw how they were beating people. The police, as happened in the Libertadores final, were once again repressing the people with night sticks. We went to the locker room because it was the best way to calm everything down, it could have ended in tragedy,” said Messi as quoted by BBC.

The trouble reportedly began when rival fans clashed in a stand behind one of the goals at the stadium in Rio de Janeiro during the national anthems. Local police intervened, but the violence only increased.

Messi and the Argentina squad hurried to the stands to intervene and halt the scuffle. However, they eventually left the pitch when it became apparent that the situation wasn’t going to be resolved promptly.

“You think about the families, the people who are there, who don’t know what’s going on and we were more concerned about that than playing a match that, at that point, was of secondary importance,” Messi added.

Some Argentina players attempted to intervene in the altercation, with goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez making an effort to reach the crowd. He also tried to grab a baton out of a police officer’s hand, according to BBC report. IANS

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