He fractured a rival’s jaw with a pineapple, was arrested and suspended for just four dates

The match was already over: Zapla Blast Furnaces had qualified for the semifinals of the Northern Regional that qualifies the finalists for promotion to the Federal A. He did it after beating 4-3 on aggregate against Atlético San Pedroalso from Jujuy.

Nothing, apart from the bitterness for the eliminated team, suggested that the match would leave a negative balance. Until goalkeeper Nahuel Fanola played a regrettable role.

First it was braided with a ball catcher: a verbal exchange and physical friction. Then he ended up kicking another rival who crossed his path a couple of times, while his teammates tried to calm him down. However, Fanola did not come to his senses and found a new target.

Blinded, he struggled to free himself from those who were restraining him and ran until he was on his side. Agustin Duran to whom he gave a tremendous blow with his fist that knocked him down immediately.

Fanola tried to walk away from the scene, on the way he received a punch from a person wearing a bib and a commotion that dissipated on the field and continued in the locker room. There he had at least one struggle with the Police and the next day the Justice acted ex officio and requested the player’s arrest.

Durán spent the night under observation after confirming the fracture in three parts of the jaw. He is out of danger and after being discharged and with his face visibly swollen he went to see his team in the first semifinal match against Deportivo La Merced, with a defeat by the smallest difference. Chucky will not be back either since he will be without physical activity for at least three months.

The clinical diagnosis indicates “sinking of one third of the right midface region” and “decreased mouth opening.” The three fractures are located at the level of the malar, zygomatic arch, right inner orbital rim and floor of the orbit itself.

Once the inflammation goes down Durán will undergo surgery under total anesthesiaand they will place a titanium mesh that will need to be checked periodically.

Despite the level of violence of the attack, the sanction for Fanola seems small. The Disciplinary Court of the Federal Football Council – the structure that brings together all the leagues affiliated to the AFA – only applied four punishment dateswhich will be effective from the next regional championship, but not from the Jujuy league.

In its file No. 4979, the Sports Disciplinary Court of the Interior applied the provisions of article 200, which establishes the “suspension of three to fifteen games”, to the player who, among other aspects listed, applies a “punch whether or not he is in I play the ball between both players.”

But the main concern of the San Pedro archer is not the sanction of the Court, but that of ordinary Justice. After the complaints from the player Durán, from his club Altos Hornos Zapla and the official action, Fanola is subject to a case classified as the crime of serious aggravated injuries for having been perpetrated on the occasion of a sporting event.

Although the condemnation of the goalkeeper came from the club itself, as the days went by things changed. The president of Atlético, Julio Bravo, lashed out at Fanola in a press conference and implied that his career at the club was over. However, that same night the situation changed when a video appeared that provides another perspective of what happened.

In the new images, Durán appears to be physically attacking an Atlético player, which would have motivated the reaction of the goalkeeper, who ran to avenge his teammate and brutally attacked the midfielder.

“It doesn’t take away the barbarity he did, he behaved very badly. He had already been acting in a wrong way with the ball catcher, with another rival, but when he saw the aggression he ran to hit Durán,” Atlético San Pedro’s soccer coordinator, Pedro Ruiz, explained to Clarín.

After Fanola regained his freedom, the club made a psychologist available and confirmed to this newspaper that he will continue in the club both as a goalkeeper and as a youth coach. The good relationship between both clubs is not harmed, at least immediately, but the novelty of the goalkeeper’s continuity at least erodes it.

“If we confirm this situation that makes us aware, the truth is that we are confused because the president (Julio Bravo) said the complete opposite,” the president of Altos Hornos Zapla, Daniel Fin, explained to this newspaper.

The hospitalization and operation expenses will be paid by both clubs: Durán does not have medical coverage nor is he covered by Unionized Argentine Soccer Players since it is an amateur category. For the same reason, he also does not have an ART, since he does not have a professional contract.

“San Pedro told us that as a collaboration he will contribute 50 percent of the expenses, which of course will be received at the time he does so. A priori, I think that their civil liability is 100 percent, but we’ll see about that,” Fin analyzed and what’s coming seems to be very far from the end.