Those who were waiting for the match between Millonarios and Deportes Tolima this afternoon witnessed an unusual scene. A fan of the local team jumped onto the field and, without anyone stopping him, punched Millonarios midfielder Daniel Catano, who responded with a kick and ended up sent off. The referee, after moments of high tension, suspended the match this Sunday.
At the Manuel Murillo Toro de Ibague stadium, the game was about to start when Catano was attacked from behind by a fan. After the blow, the player ran after the fan, dressed in the Tolima shirt, and also hit him. Referee Roldan issued a red card and the players and the Millonarios coaching staff, given the obvious lack of security, decided to leave the pitch.
Those from Tolima stayed for a few minutes and their president, Cesar Camargo, accused the rivals of sabotaging the game. “Two reprehensible facts. The fan thing gets out of control and will have to be prosecuted. And for a team to withdraw from the field is a boycott of the game and the sport, it is not worth putting pressure on us in that way,” Camargo told Win Sports.
Millionaires captain David Macalister Silva spoke in the same vein. “This is the football that corresponds to all of us, and our safety, of the coaching staff, of the players, is above anything (…) We have to set a precedent so that we educate ourselves as a society. We have to take care of each other.”
newsletter
Analysis of current affairs and the best stories from Colombia, every week in your mailbox
RECEIVE THE
The sports press pointed out yesterday that Catano had been rebuked at the door of the concentration hotel by Tolima fans, who continue to accuse him of having missed a penalty in a final when he was a player for that team.
The Dimayor has not ruled on what happened this afternoon at the Manuel Murillo Toro.