Racism, just an unsavoury "circumstance of the game" in Argentina, writes Martin Gambaratta
All continental trophies are hotly contested. But the Copa Libertadores, Latin America’s most coveted piece of football silverware, is like no other because of this unsavoury fact: on-the-field violence can happen in practically any game. Police in riot gear often pour onto the pitch to stop a fight and many times make things worse by siding with the home team. So, if you happened to be watching São Paulo play hard-tackling Quilmes (a smallish club from impoverished Greater Buenos Aires) on April 13, the scrap just before half-time would not have looked like something extraordinary. Two Quilmes defenders scuffled with Grafite, São Paulo’s towering centre-forward. One of the Quilmes players and Grafite, who retaliated, were sent off.