Police chief details trouble after Corinthians v Rosario Central, 9 held | OneFootball

Corinthians’ qualification for the quarterfinals of the 2026 Conmebol Libertadores was followed by confusion in the stands at Neo Química Arena. After the black-and-white side’s 1-0 victory over Rosario Central-ARG on Thursday night (20), nine fans were detained following a disturbance involving Brazilians, Argentinians, and military police officers.

On the field, Timão secured its place in the next round with a goal by Breno Bidon in the second half. Since the first leg in Argentina had ended in a 0-0 draw, the win in Itaquera sent Fernando Diniz’s team through, and they will now face Estudiantes-ARG in the quarterfinals.

Photo: Vicente Seda

The incidents took place after the final whistle. Speaking at Neo Química Arena, delegate César Saad explained that Corinthians supporters were already leaving the stadium while, for security reasons, the visiting fans remained in the section reserved for Rosario Central. Some Corinthians fans, however, stayed near the division between the two sets of supporters.

According to the delegate, there were provocations from the Corinthians fans who remained there, followed by a reaction from the Argentinians. The Military Police intervened to prevent the two groups from clashing, but the situation ended in a disturbance also involving the security officers.

“After the end of the match, the Corinthians fans were already being evacuated from the stadium. For security reasons, the Rosario Central fans remained inside the stadium. This is a security protocol carried out by the police. There were still some Corinthians fans left, who stayed there provoking the Rosario supporters at the dividing line between the fan sections, and they ended up clashing with the Military Police, who were obviously trying to prevent a confrontation between the supporters. There was a general clash involving the Rosario Central supporters and the military police officers.”

Altogether, according to César Saad, nine people were detained: four Corinthians fans and five Rosario Central fans. The delegate said the Corinthians supporters started the provocations that led to the confusion.

“Some Corinthians and Rosario Central fans are being held here at the police station, here at the stadium, in V3, where the report will be filed. There are nine detainees: four Corinthians fans and five Rosario Central fans. The Corinthians supporters were detained for provoking the disturbance. They started the confusion. The confusion was started by the Corinthians fans.”

Delegate rules out racist act in the episode

César Saad also said that, based on the analysis carried out up to that point, no racist acts were identified during the disturbance. According to him, the security cameras did not record any such incident after the match.

“The important thing is to say that there was no racist act. No racist act was detected by the security cameras. It was a matter of ‘you lost, go home,’ the insults, and then the argument and the fight started.”

The statement refers specifically to the disturbance that took place after the match at Neo Química Arena. In the first leg in Argentina, goalkeeper Hugo Souza reported that he had been the victim of racism during the match at Gigante de Arroyito.

In addition to the detained fans, two military police officers were injured during the incident. Saad said the officers would undergo examinations and that footage from Neo Química Arena’s security system would be requested to help fully determine what happened.

“There are two police officers who are injured and will now undergo forensic examination. And we are now requesting all of Corinthians’ footage so we can truly understand what actually happened and which fans were responsible.”

Finally, the delegate explained that those involved will answer for participating in the disturbance and may receive punishments preventing them from attending their teams’ matches in person.

“All of them will answer for provoking a disturbance and may be banned from attending stadiums here for Corinthians and Rosario Central matches for up to three years.”

While the episode remains under investigation by the authorities, Corinthians now turns its attention to the Brazilian Championship. The team’s next match is scheduled for Sunday (23) at 7:30 p.m. Brasília time, against Coritiba at Couto Pereira Stadium, in the 24th round of the national competition.

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