MONTEVIDEO: Uruguay’s Football Association (AUF) yesterday called off the first division match between Penarol and Miramar at the players’ request amid security concerns at the legendary Centenario stadium.
Uruguayan president Jose Mujica ordered police to withdraw from the country’s two main stadiums -- the Centenario and the Parque Central -- in the wake of violence between fans and security forces.
A joint statement issued by the Uruguayan Professional Footballers Association and stadium personnel said that they had “not been given the security conditions” and would not participate in the match.
Mujica’s measure comes after incidents marred Nacional’s meeting with Argentine side Newell’s Old Boys tomorrow night in the Copa Libertadores, South America’s leading club competition.
At the end of the game, which Newell’s won 4-2, a group of home fans clashed with police, causing significant damage to the Centenario.
There were 40 arrests and dozens of police and fans were injured, while more than 700 seats were ripped out, but the manner of the police response is as much at the heart of the issue as the concern at the hooliganism.
The move plunges the local football in a crisis just months ahead of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, for which former winners Uruguay have qualified.
Eritrea withdraw from Cup
JOHANNESBURG: Eritrea withdrew from the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying competition on Sunday, the organisers said in a statement.
The ‘Red Sea Camels’ were due to play fellow east Africans South Sudan during April in a two-leg preliminary tie.
No explanation was given for the pull-out, but it could be linked to continuous defections when Eritrean football teams visit other countries.
Nine players and a coach disappeared in Kenya last December when Eritrea were eliminated after the group stage of the East and Central Africa Senior Challenge Cup.
President Isaias Afewerki has ruled the one-party Horn of Africa country since independence from Ethiopia 21 years ago. AGENCIES
