como On each day of the BetPlay League 1-2024 there are at least one or two situations of violence, intolerance or irregular situationsIn the bulletins of the Dimayor Disciplinary Committee there are also measures that do not help to eradicate such facts and acts. Well, in the face of the condemnable and regrettable throwing a knife onto the playing field, which hit a player’s head in the classic between Independiente Medellín vs. National Athleticthe lack of adequate punishments was confirmed.
Although clubs cannot respond judicially for the criminal behavior of their fans, in sports it would be expected that there would be sanctions consistent with the seriousness of each act. Well the attack suffered by the Uruguayan Pablo Ceppelini last Sunday, April 21, 2024 at the Atanasio Girardotdue to a blow to the head with a knife thrown from the stands, barely received a punishment of 2 dates of suspension from the tribune and a financial fine of 13 million pesos (a little more than 3,000 euros or almost 3,300 dollars).
The sharp element fell from the northeastern stand, where the fans of the local team were located, who, as organizer of the show and guaranteed safety, was the one who should be responsible for what happened. Above all, when the line assistant, Jenny Arias, was at the side and at risk of being hit by the knife or other dangerous elements that fell at the end of the match that tied 2 to 2 between Medellín and Nacional.
What was Medellín’s response to the knife that fell on Ceppelini’s head?
In the official statement from Dimayor, published last Friday, April 26, and which contained the entire document from the Disciplinary Committee of the same entity, explained that there were reports from referee Wilmar Roldán and the match commissioner:
“1. The match referee in his report reported:
‘At minute 90+1, while taking a corner kick, a blunt object (knife) was thrown from the corner between the North and East stands. The object hit player #10 of Atlético Nacional, Pablo Cepellini, who after receiving medical attention for 2 minutes, was able to continue’ (sic).
2. The Party Commissioner in his report reported:
‘At minute 91, while taking a corner kick, a sharp object (knife) was thrown from sector 14, lower part of the north stand. The object hit player #10 Pablo Cepellini in his head. After receiving medical attention, the player rejoined and the match was able to continue’ (sic).”
Following due process, the version and defenses of the responsible club and its explanations of the case were requested, since this is included in the “article 157 of the FCF Single Disciplinary Code”. Well, the explanation came with an extensive text, in which they highlighted his campaigns to improve coexistence in the stadium and among fans, in addition They discharged all responsibility to a private security company and also recalled the responsibility of the National Police in these cases.:
Within the framework of the logistics and security organization that we have, we have a commercial alliance with Aceso Logístico SAS, a company that has a high degree of expertise and particular knowledge for the execution of massive events such as a match. of football in a context of competitiveness… The functions assigned to the logistical and security personnel within the matches in general, and in particular in the referenced one, include, after assigning a considerable number of personnel to each tribune (west, east, north and south), is to prevent conduct inappropriate – inappropriate – of the spectators and react at the moment of occurrence of any of them, identifying the responsible subjects and putting them at the disposal of the National Police, an institution that, apart from constantly supporting us, also It is well known that it is part of the secondary criminalization process, individualizing the subject and with measures aimed at the eventual sanction of the criminal order, without prejudice to the civil, disciplinary and administrative responsibility that may be verified…
Although the search and inspection was not carried out so that those attending the Atanasio Girardot stadium did not bring in prohibited items, much less a weapon of this type, Medellín highlighted the work of the logistics company and the Police to identify those possibly responsible: “Thanks to the action of our logistics and security personnel, with clear support from the National Police and the Security Secretariat of our City, in addition to all the technological infrastructure consisting of the monitoring and facial recognition cameras that our Sports Complex has. -Atanasio Girardot Stadium, it was possible to identify two (possible) subjects who undertook the throwing of the object and who have already been transferred to the custody of the authorities in charge of the pertinent matter, in addition to their identification with a document and biometric features that will allow, in In any case, establish their civil, administrative, disciplinary and/or criminal liability.”.
The strangest thing is that the ‘powerful’ club of Antioquia asked that they not be sanctioned because, according to them, they had no responsibility for what happened: “We request the Honorable Disciplinary Committee to file the case and not sanction the SA People’s Team, due to its tireless commitment to violence and the maximum avoidance of attacks in football.”.
What was the sanction against Medellín for the knife that fell on Pablo Ceppelini’s head in the classic with Nacional?
He Dimayor’s Disciplinary Committee was based on Article 84 of the unique Disciplinary Code of the Colombian Football Federationwhich refers to the “responsibility for the conduct of spectators” that the clubs organizing the matches have. And they cited the numerals that they applied in the sanction of 2 dates to the tribune and the fine of 13 million Colombian pesos:
1. (Modified by Assembly Agreement No. 043 of March 8, 2018. See current notes) The clubs will be responsible for the improper conduct of the spectators, in accordance with the degree of guilt that can be established (… .)
4. Inappropriate conduct is considered, particularly, acts of violence against people or things, the use of flammable objects, the throwing of objects, the display of banners with insulting texts, insulting shouts and invasion of the playing field.
5. Improper behavior of spectators that generates disorders before, during or after a match, in the stadium, will give rise to the club’s sanction consisting of a reprimand or suspension of the place from one (1) to three (3). dates.
6. In the event of suspension, the respective club will be fined eight (8) to ten (10) legal monthly minimum wages in force at the time of the infraction. If, as a consequence of the previous conduct, damage is caused to the facilities or people, the sanction will be two (2) to four (4) suspension dates and a fine of ten (10) to twelve (12) current legal monthly minimum wages. at the time of the infringement without prejudice to the obligation to compensate for the damages caused.
And to the disbelief of many, due to the seriousness of what happened and what could have happened with the knife that hit a soccer player’s head and could have hurt the line assistant, the decision was ratified like this: “The Committee decided to sanction with two (2) dates of partial suspension of the square (lower north tribune, sector 14) and a fine of ten (10) SMMLV, consisting of thirteen million pesos, ($13,000,000), once evidenced that the commission of inappropriate conduct by spectators was proven, consisting of i) throwing objects onto the field of play and which originated in the lower north stand, sector 14 of the Atanasio Girardot stadium.”.
