Vasco fans gather 10 thousand in the Barreira favela – 09/05/2023 – Sport

The surroundings of the São Januário stadium, in the north zone of Rio de Janeiro, were crowded with Vasco fans on Sunday night (3). But the stadium was closed. The team played in Salvador, against Bahia.

Fans gathered in Barreira do Vasco, a slum neighboring the stadium, and watched the 1-1 tie for the Brazilian Championship, in an event that had the character of a demonstration. The club is trying to reverse a decision by the Justice of Rio de Janeiro, after civil action by the State Public Prosecutor’s Office, which prevents the presence of fans at games in São Januário.

When contacted by the report, the Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro and the Public Prosecutor’s Office did not respond.

The idea of ​​the event was to show that fans can visit the region safely. The movement was engineered by supporters organized in partnership with merchants in the region. The club estimates that more than 10,000 people attended.

“It was a beautiful party, everyone gathered to show the great injustice that is being done to São Januário”, said communication analyst Renata Vieira, a Vasco fan who was at the event.

The ban on São Januário took place on June 22, after Vasco’s 1-0 defeat by Goiás. as a public civil action asking that the place no longer receives public. In parallel, the STJD (Superior Court of Sports Justice) punished Vasco with four games without fans, in addition to a fine.

The SJTD’s punishment has already been fulfilled, but the Justice of Rio de Janeiro granted an injunction in the first instance completely interdicting the stadium. Vasco even appealed and managed to have São Januário released for games, but still without an audience.

Judge Renata Machado Cotta, from the 2nd Chamber of Private Law, maintained the ban in a decision last week, “until it remains proven” that the club “implemented effective security measures to prevent and contain riots and riots”, wrote the judge , in part of the document.

In the decision, the judge also states that “malicious fans” entered the match between Vasco and Goiás “with bombs, rockets and flares, throwing them on the lawn”, and that “the calamitous scenario of intense turmoil and turmoil” extends to the surroundings, “which implies the exposure to risk of people who [nem] hadn’t even entered” the stadium.

“Vasco understands that São Januário has all the licenses required to host games. We do not deny that there was a problem in that game, but that does not justify preventing the fans from attending. Vasco took all the measures, but the club has no power of police, and it was not up to Vasco to prevent the confusion from happening”, said Marcelo Pedrosa de Andrade Figueira, Vasco’s lawyer.

The club was waiting for the publication of a judgment on Tuesday (5) to appeal to the STJ (Superior Court of Justice). And plans to sign a TAC (Conduct Adjustment Term) at the Public Prosecutor’s Office, pledging to take care of the fans’ safety.

“We are analyzing a series of measures. We will decide soon”, said Andrade.

Vasco fans say that there is prejudice in the decision of the Justice of Rio de Janeiro.

“The Barrier is fundamental for Vasco, and a few years ago the fans started to take the favela to the stands, chanting the name of the Barrier. When that feeling is attacked, the fan defends it tooth and nail”, stated Luiz Gustavo Alves, historian and director of the Guerreiros do Almirante crowd.

On social networks, in June, an opinion by the judge on duty of the Special Court for Supporters and Major Events went viral.

After the confusion in the match between Vasco and Goiás, judge Marcelo Rubioli wrote that the stadium “is surrounded by the Barreira do Vasco community, where you can commonly hear gunshots from the drug trade installed there”, and that the region has “narrow streets, with no escape area, which are always crowded with fans getting drunk before entering the stadium”.

“Vasco is the older brother of Barreira and of the Tuiuti and Arará communities”, stated Horacio Junior, vice-president of history and social responsibility at Vasco.

According to Horacio, in the 1920s, the land where São Januário is today was the family farm of Baron Pereira Bastos, owner of the Imperial brewery. Next to the land, there was an old mansion where a boulder that no longer exists would have inspired the nickname of Giant of the Hill. The mansion gave way to Barreira do Vasco.

“São Januário is a response to the social prejudice imposed at the time. The rivals treated Vasco, already champion of 1923, as a smaller club for not having a sports arena. , when they inaugurated the Centenario, in Uruguay, for the World Cup”, recalled Horacio.

The interdiction of Justice generated movements of the Executive. The Municipal Secretariat for Work and Income released a study, shared on the networks by Mayor Eduardo Paes (PSD), which points to a 60% drop in the monthly revenue of establishments after the ban on games. The research was carried out through interviews and filling out an electronic form.

In the document, the folder also states that 250 accredited sellers work inside São Januário on match days, and another 300 informal sellers work outside.

“São Januário has been recognized as the city’s historical heritage since 2021. There, Vargas signed the decree that created the minimum wage. There is a historic link between the stadium and the workers,” said Everton Gomes, Municipal Secretary of Work and Income of the River.

The Association of Residents of Barreira do Vasco claims that around 18,000 people were directly or indirectly affected by the ban on the games.