Uruguay: soccer championship suspended due to lack of guarantees

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Those responsible for the Uruguayan soccer refereeing announced the suspension measure the Uruguayan Football Association took through social networks in a statement informing that the actions taken are due to “acts of violence,” and later the soccer organization supported the decision by communicating it in the same way.

The suspension was determined after the match between Danubio and Peñarol in Jardines del Hipódromo, where a photographer entered the field to threaten the refereeing team; therefore, it was decided that the remainder of the fifth day of the Apertura Tournament will not be played.

After the situation experienced by the referee team, headed by Gustavo Tejera, the corresponding complaint was filed at Sectional 16 against the aggressor, who was identified and arrested by the authorities.

The fact is added to what happened to the linesman Martín Soppi, who was threatened by alleged local team fans during the duel between Nacional and Montevideo City Torque.

Although Soppi’s situation had generated a bad atmosphere in the referee’s council, the protagonists had decided to end the day and then go to the Uruguayan Football Association (AUF) to demand guarantees; otherwise, they would not act on the sixth matchday.

However, the decision to interrupt the sporting activity comes, then, as a consequence of a repetition of violent events such as the one that happened to the referee Horacio Ferreiro, who had denounced days before to have received threats after his work in the match between Nacional and Liverpool at the Gran Parque Central.

Consequently, after the staggering events and the invasion of the field of play by the photographer in Jardines del Hipódromo, the last episode was the straw that broke the camel’s back in the Uruguayan Association of Soccer Referees.

Thus, this Sunday’s matches between Fénix-Boston River, Albion-Wanderers, Nacional-Montevideo City Torque, Defensor Sporting-Plaza Colonia, and Cerrito-Rentistas are suspended.