Independiente back at Libertadores de América despite APREVIDE sanctions | OneFootball

After more than 20 days of closure at the Estadio Libertadores de América – Ricardo Enrique Bochini, Independiente will return to play at home next Saturday against Banfield.

The decision was made by the Court of Guarantees No. 3 of Avellaneda, presided over by José Luis Arabito, following the request of prosecutor Mariano Zitto, who deemed that the requirements to lift the precautionary measure imposed after the serious incidents during the second leg of the Copa Sudamericana round of 16 against Universidad de Chile had been met.

The closure had been ordered with the aim of investigating failures in the security operation and preventing new episodes of violence, which that night resulted in more than 19 injuries.

During this time, the club worked together with Aprevide, the Police, and the AFA to develop a new security protocol. With the final approval of this plan, the judge considered that the conditions were met to allow the public to return to the stadium, although progressively.

However, the Agency for the Prevention of Violence in Sports (Aprevide) decided to impose an additional sanction: for the matches against Banfield and San Lorenzo, the Pavoni Alta and Baja Stands will remain closed, so Independiente will play with reduced capacity.

This measure aims to evaluate, in the short term, compliance with the new operational plan in a controlled context before authorizing the full reopening of the stadium.

Additionally, Aprevide imposed an indefinite ban on the entry of musical instruments, streamers, banners, and flags, and confirmed that 42 individuals identified as participants in the incidents will be banned from any sporting event until the courts issue a ruling.

These resolutions were officially communicated to the club, which filed a request for reconsideration but failed to overturn the sanction.

Thus, the “Rojo” will welcome its fans back to Avellaneda after weeks of uncertainty, albeit with restrictions. The match against Banfield will be the first under the new security scheme, which aims to ensure an incident-free event and thus move toward a full reopening of the stadium in the coming matches.

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