Your Reaction To FIFA Skirmish
Posted July 20, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Viewers had a lot to say about Thursday night’s post-game conflict between Chilean players and police. Here’s what some of you wrote. Note: emails have been edited for length and content.
I wasn’t there to see it first hand but I truly believe that excessive force was used. These are young kids that are here participating in a tournament. They weren’t going to harm anyone by going to greet the fans. They wanted to show their appreciation of the support they have received in Canada. This is not something new. They have done this after every game. I was personally there on July 1st after the Canada game and there were no problems.
Pedro Navarro
I think that the police overreacted, albeit the Latins are excitable by nature, but from what I understand they were overwhelmed by the dramatic response of our police officers who have perhaps seen too many newsreels of Euro riots at soccer matches?
Susana Crisp
Steven
We the fans were all witness to how Toronto Police handled the situation. The fans were waiting outside the stadium to cheer on our players even after the loss. All the players wanted to do was to see their fans and Toronto Police and Security wouldn’t let them come to us! WHY?! What did they think would happen? Chaos!…NO! Only joy and support for them.
Jocelyn E.
I think that the police officers had every right to calm the situation. I don’t think they used excessive force.
Knowing how soccer gets out-of-hand in Europe, this doesn’t surprise me at all. People take soccer too seriously.
It’s not like the spectators get paid. Why brawl? As for the players getting into it with the police—they should be suspended from playing or placed into custody. This is a disgrace for Chileans. Players should always be sportsmanlike. All sports players know that sometimes the official may make mistakes. They’re only human. The players need to learn how to handle it.
Gabriella
Yes, I believe that police are justified in using force but only when their lives or the lives of others are in immediate danger. In my opinion, last night’s game did not call for any type of force. Fans and players alike were very passionate and I believe that all involved only wanted to see a fair and just game which of course did not happen.
Julia C.
Just they have to calm everyone down. It is a disgrace to the soccer professionals. So the police did what they had to do.
Haydee Nebel
I must say that I am extremely ashamed in this moment of my life to be a Torontonian & Canadian for that matter. I could not believe that the police force has brought such pain towards our sense of patriotism
Johani G.
Imagine losing a game to a longtime rival, unable to communicate with the police/security what you desire to do and then to be arrested???? Toronto Police was trying to be proactive which resulted in an unfortunate or rightful reaction from the players.
Marcia
I hope that both FIFA and other forms of government will truly investigate this whole situation, because there are so many videos that are popping up in youtube.com showing what really happened last night, and hopefully you will show them.
Pamela Gonzalez-Silva
I seriously think that the police took this 2 far! They shouldn’t of tasered the players. There’s no reason for them to do so. This is a soccer team! Fifa seems to not care about what happened yesterday. I am really upset that this had to happen to my country, handcuffing them like their criminals.
Chris Soto
As my husband and I watched the Chile game last night, we both agreed on 2 things. It was going to get worse, and the Toronto Police had NO idea how to handle crowd trouble at a football game. When referees make a series of questionable calls, crowd trouble is almost inevitible. But I’ve never once heard of a tazer being used! Its outrageous! Most teams in Europe have security that is specifically trained on how to deal with this exact situation. If Toronto is going to continue to host these events, perhaps the BMO stadium should look at having their staff trained in the same methods.
Lori Summers
