Juarez ramps up security in wake of bloody soccer brawl

Mayor: ‘In the end, public safety is our responsibility’

JUAREZ, Mexico (Border Report) – One of the teams whose fans were involved in last week’s bloody melee that shocked the soccer world and left 22 people injured in Queretaro, Mexico, is coming to Juarez on Friday, and local officials are taking steps to prevent violence.

Mayor Cruz Perez Cuellar said municipal police officers and members of Mexico’s National Guard will be monitoring Friday evening’s FC Juarez vs. Atlas game at Benito Juarez Olympic Stadium.

“We are talking with Bravos executives and paying close attention because, in the end, public safety is our responsibility,” Perez Cuellar said.

Fans of the Guadalajara-based Atlas found themselves overwhelmed when a brawl broke out in the stands with members of the FC Queretaro male cheering section went after them when their team was losing, according to the live broadcast of the game.

The fighting turned brutal, with fans hacking at each other with pieces of chain-link fence and kicking and punching each other. Some of the local Queretaro fans even attacked female security guards. That prompted a television announcer to refer to the assailants as “animals” on national Spanish TV.

Mexican police have arrested some suspects days after the violence, and the soccer federation has suspended games in Queretaro for a year. The Atlas cheering section was slapped with a six-month travel ban, but both teams have games as visitors this week.

Perez Cuellar said he doesn’t expect any violence on the stands on Friday.

“Something like that has never happened here and we know it will not happen, but we have to be prepared,” the mayor said. “Many families go to the stadium, so we want to work hard so nothing (bad) happens.”

Members of the city’s Civil Protection office will also be at the stadium to identify safety hazards; review permits and go over training private security guards at the stadium have received.