Guadalajara stadium violence disrupts soccer championship season in Mexico

Violence at Mexican soccer stadiums reentered the headlines and alarmed the public during pro championship playoffs this week after clashes broke out between fans and police in Guadalajara, Mexico’s second-largest city.

Three people were arrested and 23 injured — including 20 police officers — after supporters of the local football club Atlas attacked visiting fans from Monterrey in the aftermath of the Atlas team’s 2-0 defeat at Jalisco Stadium on Sunday night.

The Guadalajara police department said one of the injured fans had been mugged, another took a steep fall, and the third was run over by others during scenes that witnesses described as chaotic.

“There were pockets of police in riot gear, explosions going off, which I assume was tear gas being fired,” said Tom Marshall, a British soccer journalist who covers Mexican professional football and attended the match. “I saw a young couple crying from the tear gas in their eyes, and the police were just shouting at everyone to get away.”

The game was a crucial quarterfinal match in the Apertura 2014 tournament, which saw Atlas eliminated.

“Some of the police were wielding metal bars,” Marshall told VICE News. “I saw one kid who looked about 15 years old with a beer can in one hand and a rock in the other, discussing with a friend whether he could get away with throwing it at them.”

This was the second high-profile brawl at the venue this year, following the violence that occurred when Atlas hosted local rivals Chivas in March (see the video above)…

Click here to read this feature in full at VICE News.