Copa Libertadores moved to Madrid

[Kyng]

  https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46392340

The second leg of the Copa Libertadores final between Boca Juniors and River Plate has been moved more than 6,000 miles away to the Bernabeu in Madrid.

The Buenos Aires derby was postponed last weekend, following an attack on the Boca team bus by River Plate fans.

Boca players suffered cuts from the glass from broken windows and were also affected by the tear gas used by police to disperse the crowds.

The match will now take place on Sunday, 9 December (19:30 GMT).

The Copa Libertadores is the showpiece club competition in South America, equivalent to the Champions League in Europe.

---

Wow, very sad to see this has had to be moved again . I know @"Dust Bowl" has been complaining about this in the Chat Thread - and rightly so, because it's just embarrassing. 

(Also, I'm wondering what @ Jarkko's IntFammers would think of the whole sorry situation ?)

[Rincewind]

This is definitely embarrassing.

Now the staple of American soccer is going to be played in Europe, far away from its fans, and in a stadium that's probably going to be filled with locals, rather than the fans that have accompanied both teams throughout America in their championship quest.

If we were a serious country at all, the people who caused the incidents would be jailed and justice would have prevailed. But since we are not, you can watch the results yourself.

[Jarkko]

As someone who identifies as a casual River Plate supporter, I'm rather embarrassed by the situation. But given the sheer idolatry of the football world, it doesn't surprise me. Why can people not just enjoy the game without having to go do stupid stuff like this? Seriously, it happened in Greece with Marinakis-gate, and in Turkey with Fenerbahçe's bus getting shot up by some deranged Trabzonspor fan. This is why we can't have nice things.

@ Kyng Same thing as always - you get nationals and IntFam officials condemning it, Mattias Vlahos calling someone an idiot, Goran Simeunović cussing someone out, and the Inner Circle spending hours picking apart the repercussions.

[Rincewind]

All the available tickets were gone in the first ten minutes... but were bought by Real Madrid fans mostly.

Can we sink any lower?

[Kyng]

Wow, this is sad . 

I'd hope this is the worst of it - but then, our own hooligans never seem to learn even after years of causing trouble, so I'm not holding my breath...

[Rincewind]

It's not sad, dude, it's disgraceful.

Playing a continental match in another continent is bad enough, but the amount of hooligan activity that will ensue due to this is super scary. In fact, many of the sold-out tickets have found themselves in the re-sellers' market.

Can you imagine having saved a ton of your hard-earned money to attend this game, then have it cancelled, then having to fork out more to get on a freaking plane? I'd be insanely mad.

[GiraKeng]

This, folks, is how FIFA wants to kill the hearts of many

Though, seriously why have a Continental League Tournament go from one continent to another. $$$$
o rite.

The fact that this is moving to a different location, esp. continent, is ridiculous. Why tho.
Idc if it moved, that itself is really BS, but think of the fans. Although they were the catalyst to why this is even happening in the first place, they now have to fly from one hemisphere to another hemisphere to watch football, or as they view it, a religion. I know they are rowdy, but at least give them the time of their lives, watching the finals and believing that you might not even get to experience that again.

FIFA, why...

[Kyng]

And, as if things couldn't get any worse, Boca Juniors have tried to get River Plate disqualified over the hooliganism - and asked for the match to be postponed while the Court of Arbitration for Sport considers the case. That appeal has been dismissed, so the match will go ahead as planned:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46493291

Seriously, is there anything good to say about this match ?!

[Rincewind]

Seriously, is there anything good to say about this match ?!

Yes, there is: It's over tomorrow.

[Rincewind]

Incredibly disappointed with the result.

I don't care about either team, I just wanted to see a stellar football match... but River were responsible for damaging our national image on worldwide television, and they were rewarded --rather than punished-- with a free trip to Spain and a championship they shouldn't have been even allowed to play the second leg of.

But that's how we handle things around here, and then people wonder why we are always looked down on.