reached up to 50. The news went
around the world in minutes.
Fortunately, and despite the terrible
scenes shown in the videos, there were
no actual deaths during the riots.
Nevertheless, it was a terrible blow
to the image of Liga MX both inside
and outside the country. Many Mexican
supporters expressed their outrage
on social media networks and called
for drastic measures to ensure that
incidents like the one on March 5
would never be repeated.
The measures were announced a
few days later by Liga MX president
Mikel Arriola: the Queretaro board was
sanctioned for five years and given a
period of six months to sell the team.
The Corregidora stadium was closed
for a year, with the team’s ultras unable
to attend a match for the next three
years. For its part, the AtlasBarra
was suspended for six months.
The punishments were considered
insufficient by the press and fans, who
called for a system to identify fans and
the dissolution of theBarrasdirectly.
However, a director from another club,
not related to the two that played, told
World Soccerthat, given the current
situation in Mexican soccer, that would
be impossible. “Creating a Fan ID system
would cost so much that tickets would
become unaffordable for fans, and if
Barraswere to be dissolved, their
members would just walk in
separately and gather inside.”
Despite this, a few days later, Grupo
Orlegi, the owners of Atlas, announced
that they would unilaterally adopt these
measures. The first match with them in
place – a local derby against Chivas on
March 20 – was, predictably, a disaster.
“There were five security filters. It
took us an hour and a half to enter the
stadium, and in the end, desperate, the
fans forced the doors and did not go
through the filters,”Javier Levy, a fanwho attended the match, toldWorld
Soccer. “TheBarrasindeed entered
separately and gathered in the stands”.
Thankfully, at least, there was no
further violence.
In practice, despite the scenes
and the complaints, disturbances
really are rare in Mexican soccer.
“We arenot Argentina or Italy,” said the
director.“In Mexico that normally does
not happen. In Queretaro-Atlas, they
never understood that it was a high-
risk game, and there were not enough
security elements. There is always
danger, of course, but if things are
done properly at an organisational
level, there are never any problems”.
Be that as it may, the image of
Mexican soccer was tarnished, and the
trust between the supporters and the
Mexican FA is at the lowest point in its
history. To the point that, after the riots,
a group of influencers and fans began
a campaign on social media to have
Mexico suspended from the 2022
World Cup and prevented from its
shared hosting duties in 2026. “If
that’s what it takes so that everyone
is fired and there are substantive
changes, so be it,” was the general
feeling behind it.
It is unlikely to happen, but it shows
how far the image of local football in
Mexico has fallen, even among its own
fans, who are even willing to perform
football-harakiri, just for things to
change in the country.
Martin del Palacio LangerTributes...Atlas supporters lay tributes to the injured fans outside their stadiumPEOPLE AND PLACES IN THE NEWSPEOPLE AND PLACES IN THE NEWS
Chaos...the fighting
spilled over onto
the pitch