MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The Uruguayan prosecutor’s office will investigate the violence that forced a top-flight match between Boston River and Penarol to be suspended three minutes before stoppage time after fans bombarded players with stones, El Pais said on Thursday.
Boston goalkeeper Santiago Silva described the situation as frightening and said he had never experienced anything like it during a game after Penarol fans threw objects onto the pitch after Boston went 2-1 ahead with a penalty in the 76th minute.
“I had been insulted and had something thrown at me, but not the size of the stones I saw on the pitch, which were very dangerous,” Silva told Uruguay’s Radio Sport 890.
“If those stones hit you in the head they send you straight to hospital… when you see big things start to fall next to you, you start worrying,” he added.
The referee called off the match when security guards at the Parque Viera stadium told him they could not guarantee safety while fans mounted on a fence threw iron and chunks of concrete.
In the first half, Penarol goalkeeper Kevin Dawson was also assaulted by his own fans who threw a flask at him.
The Uruguayan FA’s disciplinary committee will decide what steps to take with Boston River three minutes from a victory that would have guaranteed them a Copa Libertadores spot.
(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in Mexico City; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
