Boca Juniors fans party on the beach two days before the Libertadores final – 11/02/2023 – Sport

Boca Juniors fans began this Thursday (2) to fill sections of Copacabana beach, in the south of Rio de Janeiro, with parties and singing days before the Copa Libertadores final. The decision will be played on Saturday (4) against Fluminense at Maracanã.

On Thursday afternoon, a group spread the Argentine club’s flags and sang songs in support of the team. There was still no record of confusion, but only insults from supporters passing by the place.

The group is concentrated at the Buenos Aires kiosk, located on Rua Xavier da Silveira, a place that became a meeting point for Argentines at the 2014 World Cup. A flag-waving event is scheduled for this Friday afternoon (3).

The Military Police accompanied the group. The government claims to have a plan in place to avoid conflicts between fans until Sunday (5), one day after the decisive match. 2,400 agents are assigned to the security of fans and team delegations.

Tensions began to rise this Monday, when a group of Argentine fans were attacked by tricolors on Copacabana beach, according to one of them, who published a photo with his head bleeding. “They beat us. They stole my cell phone. There were 30 of us and they came with chairs to the beach to attack us”, wrote Pablo Moulia, with whom the Sheet couldn’t get in touch.

The movement, however, also has a positive impact on the city’s tourism. The average occupancy of hotels already reached 87.57%, according to a balance released on Tuesday (31) by HotéisRIO (Union of Hotels and Accommodation of the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro) and by ABIH RJ (Brazilian Association of the Hotels in Rio de Janeiro).