A Severed Pig's Head, a Friend's Dead Body and Other Things Not to Bring to a Soccer Game
Mar 31, 2011 – 7:32 AM
Matthew Hall
You can add the dead guy at a pro game in Colombia last weekend to a list of crazy behavior by soccer fans at games.
In the now infamous story, fans in Colombia stole the body of a murdered friend from a funeral home and took his corpse to the stadium to cheer on their favorite team -- a whole new twist on Pro Zombie Soccer.
Christopher Jacome, 17, was shot and killed on Saturday while playing soccer in his local park. The following day, friends took his coffin and carried it into the 42,000-capacity General Santander Stadium in Cucuta for a match between Cucuta Deportivo and Envigado.
It is not known whether the corpse required a ticket to gain entry.
Jacome was a member of Cucuta Deportivo's hardcore group of supporters known as Barra Del Indio. The same group is believed to be responsible for stealing the coffin from the funeral parlor.
Spanish-language media reported that a funeral procession of 200 fans followed the coffin into the stadium, but local police have been unable to identify who stole the body from the funeral home.
The incident is believed to be the first time a dead body has made an appearance at a sports event, but a human corpse is not the only bizarre item brought into a soccer stadium.
Fans of FC Barcelona from Spain threw the head of a dead pig onto the field during a game against rivals Real Madrid in 2002. The Barcelona fans were protesting star player Luis Figo's earlier controversial trade to Madrid. He was bombarded with objects during the game: whiskey bottles, billiard balls and the pig's head.
In 2001, fans of Italian team Inter Milan somehow managed to smuggle an entire Vespa motor scooter into the 80,000-capacity Giuseppe Meazza Stadium in Milan during an Italian league match.
The fans attempted to set the scooter on fire before throwing it from an upper tier of the stadium onto a section of seating below.
Barra Brava fan groups (roughly translated as "tough gang"), similar to the one Jacome was a member of, are widespread in South America. Argentina probably has the greatest number and best-organized Barra Brava in the world.
Some groups fight deadly "wars," not unlike rivalries in U.S. gang culture, and gang members have been revealed to be on the payroll of the teams they follow, paid in exchange for supporting the incumbent club president or board of directors.
soccer
Mar 31, 2011 – 7:32 AM
Matthew Hall
You can add the dead guy at a pro game in Colombia last weekend to a list of crazy behavior by soccer fans at games.
In the now infamous story, fans in Colombia stole the body of a murdered friend from a funeral home and took his corpse to the stadium to cheer on their favorite team -- a whole new twist on Pro Zombie Soccer.
Christopher Jacome, 17, was shot and killed on Saturday while playing soccer in his local park. The following day, friends took his coffin and carried it into the 42,000-capacity General Santander Stadium in Cucuta for a match between Cucuta Deportivo and Envigado.
It is not known whether the corpse required a ticket to gain entry.
Jacome was a member of Cucuta Deportivo's hardcore group of supporters known as Barra Del Indio. The same group is believed to be responsible for stealing the coffin from the funeral parlor.
Spanish-language media reported that a funeral procession of 200 fans followed the coffin into the stadium, but local police have been unable to identify who stole the body from the funeral home.
The incident is believed to be the first time a dead body has made an appearance at a sports event, but a human corpse is not the only bizarre item brought into a soccer stadium.
Fans of FC Barcelona from Spain threw the head of a dead pig onto the field during a game against rivals Real Madrid in 2002. The Barcelona fans were protesting star player Luis Figo's earlier controversial trade to Madrid. He was bombarded with objects during the game: whiskey bottles, billiard balls and the pig's head.
In 2001, fans of Italian team Inter Milan somehow managed to smuggle an entire Vespa motor scooter into the 80,000-capacity Giuseppe Meazza Stadium in Milan during an Italian league match.
The fans attempted to set the scooter on fire before throwing it from an upper tier of the stadium onto a section of seating below.
Barra Brava fan groups (roughly translated as "tough gang"), similar to the one Jacome was a member of, are widespread in South America. Argentina probably has the greatest number and best-organized Barra Brava in the world.
Some groups fight deadly "wars," not unlike rivalries in U.S. gang culture, and gang members have been revealed to be on the payroll of the teams they follow, paid in exchange for supporting the incumbent club president or board of directors.
soccer
Posts
