CNN – A soccer fan in Argentina died during an abandoned Liga Profesional game between Gimnasia La Plata and Boca Juniors on Thursday at the Juan Carmelo Zerillo Stadium in La Plata, Buenos Aires. The supporter has been named as Cesar Regueiro by Gimnasia, the home team.
It’s not clear what caused the fan’s death, but Sergio Berni, security minister for Buenos Aires province, told local television that the fan died of a heart problem as he was leaving the stadium, Reuters reported.
The match between Gimnasia and provincial rival Boca was abandoned by referee Hernán Mastrángelo after nine minutes due to unrest around the stadium between security forces and fans, with tear gas being used by the authorities.
Gimnasia, Boca Juniors, La Liga Profesional and the Argentinian Football Association (AFA) – the governing body for the sport in the country – have posted statements on their verified Twitter accounts condemning the incident and offering condolences to Regueiro’s family and loved ones.
Gimnasia’s statement also demanded an investigation into the incident in order to discover what caused the tragedy.
Gimnasia went on to release a further statement on their social media accounts, which berates the use of excessive force by security forces at the stadium entrances and in its vicinity and claims that the club and its supporters followed the entry protocols set out by and organized with the provincial police of Buenos Aires and APREVIDE, the ministry for security in Buenos Aires.
The club also said in the same statement that they did not oversell tickets to the fixture.
Provincial security minister Berni told CNN affiliate TN: “What always happens happened.
“They sell more tickets than the venue’s capacity and there is no place in the stadiums. Then we have to take responsibility for such irresponsibility.”
CNN en Español has reached out to Buenos Aires provincial police who have not offered a statement on the matter.
The death comes days after a stadium crush in Indonesia which led to the death of at least 131 people. The deadly crush occurred after police fired tear gas to disperse a crowd that had stormed the pitch.
