“The Libertadores Final should be a party and not a battle”, says Brazil’s ambassador to Argentina

Concern about violence before the final of the Copa Libertadores de América, between Fluminense and Boca Juniors, led Brazil’s ambassador to Argentina, Julio Bitelli, to record a message this Friday, saying that “the passion for football that Brazilians and Argentines share is always a reason for unity and celebration”. Bitelli considered the scenes of violence that occurred on Thursday, hours before this Saturday’s game at the Maracanã stadium, “deeply regrettable”.

“We hope that these scenes of violence will not happen again,” he said in front of the image of Pelé kissing tango singer Carlos Gardel, which illustrates the facade of the embassy in Buenos Aires. This image, which is part of the series ‘Pelé Beijoqueiro’, created by São Paulo artist Luis Bueno, based on a photograph of the ‘King of Football’ hugging and kissing boxer Muhammad Ali, marks 200 years of friendship between the two countries and has already It has become a tourist spot for Brazilians and Argentines.

In the message, recorded in front of the Brazilian embassy in Buenos Aires, Bitelli, a football fan in both countries, said that the final between Boca and Fluminense “should be a party and not a battle”. Bitelli said that “racist or xenophobic chants are subject to arrest in Brazil”, as Argentine consular authorities in Rio de Janeiro have also warned. The ambassador also highlighted that there are cultural differences in relation to provocations between fans.

The images of police repression on the sands of Copacabana led, in turn, the Argentine ambassador to Brazil, Daniel Scioli, to state: “Nothing justifies a repression as brutal as the one seen in Copacabana, where there were even children” . “Boca fans weren’t making any mess. They were in their t-shirts and flags cheering before the game,” Scioli told the Argentine press and on his social media.

In an attempt to calm the fans, the president of Fluminense, Mario Bittencourt, and the representative of Boca met in Rio and asked for “peace”. “An atmosphere that can unite the two people, the two fans so that we can be at Maracanã tomorrow having a beautiful football party. In it, the winner will be the one who plays best, the one who plays a great match, who has their fans present It is very important that we (Brazilians and Argentines) are together tomorrow (Saturday). Bittencourt also spoke about the importance of creating an atmosphere of “festive and joy”.

Boca president Jorge Ameal asked for “respect towards” Fluminense fans. “This is not a war. It’s a football game. We really like the Brazilian people and we want them to like us too. But some violent people want to change (this feeling) that has a history of life. We want everyone’s happiness. Happiness is football. And here we talk about how to improve the spectacle and not the other way around”, said the Argentine. Shortly after the speeches, the two presidents hugged.

This Friday afternoon, despite the images of rush and police violence, the day before, on the beach, the expectation of whether or not there will be a big screen at the Sambadrome for the approximately 80 thousand Argentine Boca fans who arrived in Rio and do not have tickets for the game, Boca fans (including entire families) continued to embark, this Friday, for Rio de Janeiro.