Fight in Flamengo x Vasco brings to light impasse in discussion on amnesty of supporters

The widespread fight between members of the Flamengo and Vasco supporters, last Sunday, with the right to one dead, rescued the debate on the removal of these associations from the stadiums. The practice of the Public Ministry (MP), following the law of the Fan Statute, has been taking place for some years, but it has not been effective.

The punishment has already increased to five years. And, with each occurrence of the type, the penalty starts to count from zero. How is it possible for those involved in Sunday’s episode to happen. With that, many organized spend long hiatuses outside the stands.

“It’s been a recurring problem for a long time. We have been trying to find a solution through the Fan Statute, which provides for penalties such as the removal of the aggressors and the associations to which they belong. They are responsible for educating the Members — says promoter Rodrigo Terra, who recognizes the difficulty in moving forward in this work:

— The MP has found it difficult to adopt measures to improve fan safety. We didn’t get the biometrics to identify the fans; We didn’t get the single crowd. We always bump into the judiciary. But we have to do something that hasn’t been done yet.

Recently, a bill was presented at Alerj asking for amnesty for the five organizations that are banned from stadiums. One of their arguments was that only the aggressors should be punished, not the association. The law was sanctioned by the governor, but without the text of the amnesty of punishments, as it was a federal competence.

A provisional 60-day amnesty, however, would be conditional on updating the Conduct Adjustment Term (TAC) signed in 2011 by the Rio Public Ministry. There were some meetings involving public prosecutors, representatives of football organizations and entities. At the last meeting, at the end of January, the final text should have been signed. In it, the supporters would undertake to keep their records up to date with the security forces and expel the identified aggressors. In this way, the penalty would not fall on the association.

— The wording was finished, but they didn’t want to sign. It was a way to bring the organized ones into the management of the event. They would have obligations too. But they only want rights – said Rodrigo Terra, the promoter responsible for the TAC, who added that the partial release of the use of banners and uniforms fell when the term was not signed, contrary to what supporters claim, who returned to frequent the stadiums.

Despite working with 600 agents, PM only arrested one fan

Despite security for the game having 600 police officers, according to the PM of Rio, the staff was unable to contain the fury of rival fans who met in the vicinity of Maracanã and promoted strong scenes of violence and depredation. Five years ago, the number of PMs involved in classics in the city reached a maximum of 500 police officers — men from the Specialized Battalion for Policing in Stadiums (Bepe) provide internal security for the stadium and members of other units, such as cavalry and riot police, are responsible for the surroundings.

In total, only one person was arrested and a few dozen items used in the confrontation were seized. In addition, more than 100 buses from 60 lines of the Rio fleet were vandalized, with a loss of more than R$ 200,000.

To GLOBO, the PM did not comment on the fact that only one person was arrested in the midst of the generalized fight and stated that the escort scheme to facilitate the fans’ access to the stadium and avoid conflicts was previously planned with the two fans and the Association National Association of Organized Fans (ANATORG).

An image released on social networks drew particular attention: a group wielding sticks and clubs being escorted by the military police on the way to the stadium. The PM did not respond to GLOBO’s question. To the G1, the institution stated that the internal affairs department will open a procedure to investigate the conduct of the police.

Anatorg released a note repudiating the violence, questioning “why the alleged fans who carried the seized sticks were not detained” and reiterating that it continues to defend individual punishment, “without penalizing the institutions”.

The Sports Court of Rio de Janeiro (TJD-RJ) is also investigating possible cases of violence in Sunday’s classic, according to Lauro Jardim’s blog. However, the agency’s activities are limited to episodes that occur inside or in the vicinity of the stadium. Cases close to train and metro stations, for example, cannot be investigated by the court.

Reports of bombs inside the stadium may be investigated by the agency. In this case, Flamengo may be punished for being the host of the game, unless those involved are identified.