Querétaro FC and Atlas FC are facing unprecedented consequences after a bloody riot erupted during the two clubs’ Liga MX match on Saturday.
According to the Los Angeles Times’s Kevin Baxter, president of Mexico’s Liga MX Mikel Arriola announced that Querétaro FC’s owners have been banned from the league for five years, and they must post the club for sale by the end of the year.
Querétaro FC’s supporters’ group are banned for three years and the club’s affiliated teams, including their women’s squad, will play without fans for the rest of the season. Per The Athletic’s Felipe Cardenas, the Mexican Football Federation’s Disciplinary Commission handed the team a one-year stadium ban, meaning the team will play in an empty arena until March 2023.
It also forfeited its match 3–0 and were fined $70,000.
Atlas FC’s supporters’ group was banned fox six months from home matches.
The sanctions come at the heels of a violent melee that interrupted the second half of the Querétaro-Atlas match. Inside Querétaro’s Estadio Corregidora, scenes of violence overtook the pitch and stands, ending in 26 people being admitted into the hospital.
Querétaro governor Mauricio Kuri spoke out against the violence on Tuesday, but contradicted multiple eyewitness claims that there were multiple casualties in the riot. He cited that 19 people have been discharged from hospitals, while one is in critical condition and four others’ lives “are not in danger.”
He also disputed claims that the government is hiding fatalities.
“When they say that we’re not telling the truth, that we are hiding the dead, well, how can we do that and what would I gain?” He said. “On the contrary, this fills me with a lot of indignation, a lot of anger and what I said is serious, we are going to go after these criminals.”
Earlier that day, five officials were suspended by state authorities in wake of the riot.
As a result of the violence, the Los Angeles Times reported that owners ruled in a meeting Tuesday that visitors supporters’ groups will be barred from attending away matches. Home teams must monitor the number of supporter groups in attendance and confine them to a specific area.
Facial recognition systems will also be placed in all stadiums next season.
