Querétaro–Atlas Riot

On 5 March 2022, during a Liga MX football match between Querétaro F.C. and Atlas F.C., a riot broke out between fans attending the match at Estadio Corregidora in Mexico. Videos posted on social media showed groups of men beating, kicking, whipping, dragging and stripping victims.

According to the Querétaro state's civil protection agency initial statement, at least 22 men were injured. This number was updated to 26 the following morning. Claims of death among supporters attacked during the riot is disputed. While no deaths were officially confirmed, some deaths were reported by Atlas fans. David Medrano Félix, a journalist from TV Azteca, originally announced that there had been 17 deaths, but later retracted his report.

Background

The conflicts between Querétaro F.C. and Atlas F.C. date back to 2007, when Atlas relegated Querétaro from the Primera División de México league at home ( Estadio Jalisco) during the Clausura 2007 tournament. During that game, there were more Querétaro fans than Atlas fans. Three years later, when Querétaro were back in the Primera División league, and during the 2009–10 Mexican Primera División season, Atlas fans outnumbered Querétaro fans at home ( Estadio Corregidora) and clashes were reported in the stands. Since then, conflicts between the ''barras'' (groups of fans) of both teams have existed and the matches between the teams have been seen as potentially problematic.

Riots

Querétaro was playing a match against the Liga MX Apertura 2021 champion, Atlas with kick-off time at 17:00 CST ( UTC−6). Julio César Furch scored a goal for Atlas at the 28th minute, which stood for the remainder of the match. Confrontation between the supporters of both clubs began at the 57th minute; play stopped at the 63rd minute as fans sprinted onto the pitch to avoid the fighting from the supporters. At the 102nd minute, the referees suspended the match.

Aftermath

Reactions

Both Atlas and Querétaro released statements on social media condemning the riots and calling on the authorities to hold the instigators responsible.

The incident was reported through the media in Mexico. Querétaro state governor Mauricio Kuri González condemned the violence and has given instructions "to apply the law with all its consequences." The president of the Liga MX, Mikel Arriola declared the violence "unacceptable" and that "exemplary punishments" will be made for those responsible for the riots. Arriola then went to Querétaro the following day to visit the injured fans.

On March 7, 2022, the governor had still not managed to arrest anyone despite having photo evidence of the perpetrators. Nor could he provide evidence that there had been no deaths. Statements by CONCACAF and FIFA were made the following day after the riot, condemning the violence with CONCACAF and FIFA calling on authorities to hold them accountable and that CONCACAF will provide any support to both the Mexican Football Federation and the Liga MX.

On March 7, 2022, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced during a conference that he will not hold the state governor responsible for the riot, although he did not condone the riots, The manager of Querétaro F.C., Hernán Cristante, said that his players also received death threats following the riots.

On March 8, 2022, C.D. Guadalajara announced via their website and social media that the club will ban ''barras'' from both Guadalajara and Club América in their upcoming derby match on 12 March.

On March 9, 2022, Arriola stated that the riots could have affected Mexico's role in co-hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup, saying that its role would have been in jeopardy had there not been a response to the violence.

Consequences

In response to the event, the Liga MX announced that all matches held on Sunday, the following day, would be postponed and are rescheduled at the request of the players union, ''Asociación Mexicana de Futbolistas''. The league's disciplinary committee as well as that of the Mexican Football Federation started an investigation into the riots. Its female counterpart, the Liga MX Femenil, also announced that matches held on March 6 would be postponed and rescheduled.

The league confirmed that the match between Querétaro and Atlas would be rescheduled at a later date where it would play the remaining time left on the match as required under the league's competition regulations. In addition, the Liga de Expansión MX, the second-level league of the Mexican football league system, also announced that all matches scheduled between March 8 and 13 of 2022 would be played behind closed doors. At least five officials, which included police and civil defense employees as well as three people involved for planning and preparation, were suspended after the riots.

On March 8, 2022, the Liga MX banned fans from attending Querétaro's home matches for up to a year, requiring all home matches to be played behind closed doors, banned the Querétaro ''barras'' for up to three years, and also banned the club's owners, Manuel Velarde, Gabriel Solares, Alfonso Solloa, Javier Solloa, and Greg Taylor, from conducting league-related activities for up to five years. It also required the club to be transferred to a new owner, where it will be transferred to its original owners, Grupo Caliente, which also owns Club Tijuana and must sell Querétaro by the end of the year. If Grupo Caliente fails to sell the club, then the league will take ownership of the club. It also ruled the match a win for Atlas, with the score recorded 0–3 after Atlas scored 0–1 before it was abandoned. It also fined the current owners MX$1.5 million (US$70,450) ordered the club's youth and women's teams to play behind closed doors, and also banned Atlas-affiliated ''barras'' from attending home matches for up to six months.

The league also announced that new security and safety measures will be implemented for the teams by the 2022–23 season, including facial recognition and fan IDs where they must register and identify members of a team's supporters groups, while minors will now be banned from being in supporter groups sections. It also banned private security in stadiums and requiring state, local, and municipal police to prove security for all matches. The Liga MX will also not disaffiliate Querétaro from the league to avoid any interference with the rest of the 2022 Clausura season.

On March 8, 14 suspects, all male, were arrested in connection to the violence. Two were released shortly thereafter due to lack of evidence.

See also

* Football hooliganism
* Sports riot

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Queretaro-Atlas riot
2021–22 in Mexican football
2022 riots
2022 crimes in Mexico
Association football hooliganism
Atlas F.C.
History of Querétaro
March 2022 events in Mexico
Querétaro F.C.
Riots and civil disorder in Mexico
Association football riots
Stadium disasters