Club official calls brawl in Argentina that saw 12 players ejected a ‘national disgrace’

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – An official at Argentine soccer club Deportivo Roca, which was involved in a chaotic brawl in a match in which 12 players were ejected and the game suspended, calls the incident a “national disgrace.”

Speaking Friday with The Associated Press, Guillermo Vallejos says the brawl between his club and fellow third-division team Cipolletti “could have become a tragedy.”

Video from Wednesday’s match showed players fighting with each other, kicking and landing punches. One player ran the length of the field to go after spectators that had run onto the field. Cipolletti player Nicolas Alegria was carried off the field to a waiting ambulance. Vallejos says Alegria sustained a head injury and was recovering Friday at home.

Referee Facundo Espinoza asked that five players from each team be punished with unspecified sanctions.

Violence is endemic at all levels of the Argentine game with many matches threatened by violence on and off the pitch.