Brazil nuts: Enraged Coritiba fans attack officials and riot police after team is relegated

Ollie Irish

7th, December 2009

6 Comments

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A Coritiba fan looks worse for wear after scuffles with police

Some fans take relegation well, with a shrug of the shoulders or a few tears. Not in South America though, where relegation can be greeted with a carnival of violence.

Such was the case in Brazil on Sunday, when Coritiba ‘welcomed’ Fluminense to the Estadio Couto Pereira. The teams drew 1-1, a result that was good enough to save the relegation-threatened visitors but – you guessed it – also consign Coritiba to the second division.

Here’s how the final table looked at the wrong end:

brazil table

With Botafogo’s shock 2-1 victory over Palmeiras, a win would have been the only result to save Coritiba and doom Fluminense.

So you can understand why Coritiba’s fans were a teensy bit upset with the way things worked out, especially as two Rio-based clubs – Botafago and Fluminense – survived. And by teensy bit upset, I mean this:

That’s right folks, a good old-fashioned South American pitch invasion, which left one policeman unconscious, needing to be airlifted from the stadium by helicopter.

When the dust settles, it will be interesting to see what punishment is meted out to Coritiba for its fans despicable behaviour. In England, this sort of thing might see a club being demoted two divisions, rather than one, but mental pitch invasions seem to be rather more the norm in Brazil.

At the other end of the table, it’s only fair I mention new champions Flamengo, who won their first title in 17 years after a 2-1 win over Gremio. Congrats. Btw, Gremio’s fans will be delighted to have lost that game, as it meant bitter rivals Internacional missed out on the title.

Fletch says:

7771325

“Tidy. But why do all those Brazilian bufties fight with their feet?”

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6 Comments

  1. alex says:

    i love passionate fans, but this is a disgrace to the league, the team, the coaches, the players, and especially the fans. just because you loose does not give anyone the excuse to hurt another person over a game involving a plastic ball and some twine. brazil has surprised me.

  2. Eduardo Moreira says:

    Coritiba fans is one of the most beautiful in the world!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlsgTHomQrw

  3. Andrew says:

    Damn.. Was hoping the riot police would crack some skulls..

  4. Andre Coxa says:

    What they don’t say is that clubs from Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo are often favored by referees, by CBF (the Brazilian Football Confederation), etc. They forget to say that in São Paulo, few years back, fans of São Paulo and Palmeiras literally KILLED each other in the decision of the state youth tournament…
    Coritiba fans make indeed some of the most spectacular displays in the entire world in the stadium, this was an outburst caused by constant unfairness in Brazilian football.
    To illustrate, the champion Flamengo features the highest debt amongst Brazilian clubs, something like half a billion reais (more than quarter of a billion dollars!).

    Look for “Coritiba Green Hell” on Youtube.

  5. Dan says:

    Great, I wonder what the world cup in Brazil will be like if Brazil loses any of their matches…

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