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Brawling fans in stands delay start of Argentina-Brazil World Cup qualifying match for 27 minutes

BY MAURICIO SAVARESE

Updated 7:19 AM GMT+3, November 22, 2023

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RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Lionel Messi led his Argentina lineup off the field because of a brawl between rival fans in Brazil, delaying the start of their South American World Cup qualifier by 27 minutes Tuesday at the Maracana Stadium.

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“There was family of the players (there). We were more worried about that than playing the match,” Messi said after the match. “We did that (going to the locker room) because that was the way to make it all calm. From below, we couldn’t do much, we saw how they (police) hit people.”

Players of both teams had earlier asked fans for calm, with Argentina goalkeeper Dibu Martinez racing to one of the rails in front of the visiting fans and urging police to stop the violence.

Police used batons to break up the fights in the crowd, which started minutes after the national anthems echoed around the stadium.

Parts of seating and other objects were thrown from both sides and hit some spectators behind one of the goals, and at least one fan left the stadium bleeding from his head.

Argentina returned after 22 minutes in the locker rooms, and warmed up for several minutes before the game was finally