Boto on Medellín president after stadium 'war': “He wanted to play…” | OneFootball

What did José Boto, Flamengo’s technical football director, say in an interview this Friday (08)?

José Boto gave a press conference on Friday afternoon (08), shortly after the Flamengo delegation arrived in Porto Alegre. In one of his answers, the club’s technical football director said that the president of the Colombian team tried to come up with a strategy for the match to resume even amid the scenes of violence in the stands at Atanasio Girardot Stadium.

— They had nothing against Flamengo. They started throwing flares, stones, metal bars, everything. There was no security at all. We felt threatened. We wanted to play, with security. But the club president wanted to evacuate the stadium and then have the match start again — he said, before concluding:

— And I said that if the match started again, it would be worse. They wanted to push for play to resume, but without security we were not going to play. Then they understood that the best thing was not to restart the match. There was never any hostility toward Flamengo —, José Boto concluded.

The match between Flamengo and Independiente Medellín was suspended because of strong protests by Colombian fans against their own team. In the stands, the supporters threw explosives and stones, started fires, and also invaded the pitch.

Given the situation, the players returned to the locker room while awaiting a decision. After talks between the responsible authorities, Conmebol made the final call and permanently canceled the match. Now, Flamengo is waiting for a walkover to be awarded against Medellín and, as a result, to receive the three points from the match.

WHAT IS FLAMENGO’S NEXT MATCH?

Already in Porto Alegre, Flamengo is preparing to take the field this Sunday (10) in the Brasileirão. At 7:30 p.m. (Brasília time), Mengo will face Grêmio in the capital of Rio Grande do Sul. As usual, Coluna do Fla TV will cover all the details of the match on YouTube, as well as on its website and social media.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.