DIARIO TORONTO STAR DE CANADA

Anger on the soccer field turned into turmoil off it Thursday night as members of the Chilean under-20 team slugged it out with police and security after a bitter semifinal loss at the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

A member of the Chilean delegation was subdued by taser during the brawl, which developed as players were loading onto their team bus following their ill-tempered 3-0 loss to Argentina in the semifinal at the National Soccer Stadium near the Toronto waterfront.

A FIFA spokesman said early Friday that no arrests had been made, although the entire Chile team was detained by police at the stadium after the incident.

"All (Chilean) players have been released from custody of the police to care of the Chilean delegation," FIFA spokesman John Schumacher said.

Nathan Denette said he was outside the stadium with a fellow CP photographer when they heard grumbling then yelling near the Chilean team bus after the game.

"All of a sudden we looked over and there was a big brawl that breaks out, between four or five people," Denette said. "Next thing you know, the bus just unloads and there's eight, 10 players come off the bus and there's just fists flying everywhere, between the cops, the security guards, a couple of ladies were involved that were security.

"It looked like a big dogfight. People throwing fists and cops with their billyclubs out and then all of a sudden it got out of control and a police officer grabbed his taser gun and tasered someone – I don't know if he was a player or if he was part of the team – as soon as that happened, it got even worse."

The bus was parked at the side of the stadium, where a large fence kept hundreds of angry, chanting fans from getting closer. A tow truck arrived later to take the damaged team bus away.
"We heard this big bang . . . it was just commotion after commotion after commotion," Denette said. "Some of the players were trying to get players back on the bus. But some were furious they were trying to get back off the bus. And then they opened up the windows on the bus and were throwing things at the officers. And then all of sudden, they were trying to grab them from the inside of the bus. And it just escalated."

It was not immediately clear whether the man tasered was a player or official with the Chilean team.

Police eventually handcuffed several players, some of them bloodied and screaming, and escorted them back into the dressing room while shocked FIFA and Canadian soccer officials looked on. Several hours after the game ended, Chilean players involved in the fracas were still at the stadium.

"The players are still in the dressing room and we don't know what's going to happen next," Colin Linford, president of the Canadian Soccer Association, told The Canadian Press.
Linford said while FIFA officials were on hand, police had taken charge of the situation.
FIFA, the world governing body of soccer, held a news conference at the stadium at 1:15 a.m. shortly after the players were allowed to leave.

"The entire situation is under investigation by FIFA, the LOC (local organizing committee), the police authorities in Toronto as well as the Chilean delegation," said Schumacher.
"The Chilean players were detained by the police to de-escalate the situation that was taking place in front of the stadium," he added.

Two Chilean players were ejected during the loss. The game was an ill-tempered affair with nine yellow cards – seven to Chile and two to Argentina – in addition to the two red cards. German referee Wolfgang Stark called 53 fouls – 30 against Chile.

When the final whistle blew, several Chilean players tried to get at the officiating crew. Others stepped in to keep them away. Two police officers escorted the officiating crew off the pitch, but they stopped as they neared the tunnel, eyeing the angry crowd.

Eventually they made a run for it, dashing to the safety of the tunnel below the stands.
The post-match melee happened as reporters were elsewhere in the stadium, attending the coaches' post-match news conference.

"The players were upset. They're young players," Chile coach Jose Sulantay said through an interpreter, referring to the melee on the playing field after the final whistle. "The red card affected them.

"The coaching staff tried to calm them down, but there were upset with the ref and the red cards."

Outside security officials kept reporters at the mixed zone well away from the brawl. Reporters inside the stadium were prevented from coming outside.

Chile is scheduled to play Austria in the third-place game on Sunday before the final between Argentina and the Czech Republic at BMO Field, which has been renamed the National Soccer Stadium during the tournament because of sponsorship issues.

The brawl is a major embarrassment to FIFA, which earlier congratulated organizers for setting a ticket sales record for the tournament. The U-20 competition is FIFA's second biggest tournament, behind only the World Cup.

More details are expected at a FIFA news conference later Friday