By Tom Croasdell

On the night of Monday 6th August 2007, Gonzalo Acro, accompanied by a friend, were approached by three men on a street in Villa Urquiza, Buenos Aires, whilst walking home from the gym. The trio opened fire, and left the pair for dead on the pavement.

Three days later, a spokesman at the Pirovano hospital where Acro lay in a coma announced that in the early hours of that same day, the 29-year-old had died from gun shot wounds to the head.

Not just a random attack, this was described as ‘the latest bout of football-related violence’ in Argentina.

Football Hooliganism

Football hooliganism in South America is by no means a new phenomenon – the late 1950s saw an escalation of football-related violence, which earned great media interest globally. Indeed, Argentina’s most significant incident of football-related violence occurred nearly 40 years ago, when 72 people were killed at a match between River Plate and Boca Juniors.

More recently, a death toll of 40 people at football matches between 1992 and 2002 provoked an investigation into football hooliganism in Argentina which concluded that football violence had become a national crisis. In the 2002 season, five supporters were killed and dozens fell victim to stabbing and shootings, causing the season to be suspended.

Passionate fans at Platense, Photo by Fabricio Di Dio

This football hooliganism is commonly attributed to organised supporter groups known as barras bravas. Their style of support is comparable to that of the Ultra groups in Europe – standing throughout matches, organising chants and displaying large flags and banners in their teams colours.

The case of Gonzalo Acro

‘Los Borrachos del Tablón’ is the name of River Plate’s barra brava, and Gonzalo Acro was a significant member. The group is currently headed by brothers, Alan and William Schlenker, but a rebel faction, led by Adrián Rousseau, is trying to seize power of the barra. Gonzalo Acro was described as ‘the lieutenant’ of Rousseau.

On 10th August, ‘La Nación’, quoting police sources, vocalised general suspicions that Acro’s death was related to the complicated politics of the Buenos Aires club’s extreme supporter group: "Gonzalo Acro knew his killers, who were likely to have been members of the other sector of the violent supporter group known as ‘Los Borrachos del Tablón’," reported Gabriel Di Nicola.

Adrián Rousseau fuelled the speculation, telling magazine ‘Veintitrés’: "Alan [Schlenker] organised it…He may have an alibi but he arranged it all ten days ago." Schlenker came out to defend himself, claiming he and Acro were good friends, and he was saddened to hear the news of his death. Schlenker has since been detained for his alleged role in the murder.

Graffiti decrying football hooliganism, Photo by Fabricio Di Dio

What influence do the barras bravas actually have?

Just over a month after the murder of Gonzalo Acro, it was the turn of Newell’s Old Boy’s barra brava to steal the limelight. Following a defeat to Central, club manager, Pablo Marini, stepped down. Five witnesses reportedly saw several members of the club’s barra brava threaten Marini in the dressing room and initial reports suggested this was the reason for his resignation.

However, Marini told Olé: "There wasn’t any aggression, there was no intent of aggression, there were no guns, there were no threats, no players intervened." Marini was puzzled by the eye witnesses’ claims.

Whatever version of the truth is correct, the alleged incident suggests that the barras bravas have an alarmingly high level of accessibility to the powers that be within football clubs.

It is the structure of Argentine football clubs that facilitates power for the barras bravas: Given that it is club members who vote for the team president, ‘a rent-a mob is such a useful thing to have’ said BBC Sport’s South American football correspondent Tim Vickery. "They are clearly monsters that the clubs have helped create," he continued.

It is hard to determine whether a change in club structure would limit the powers of the barras bravas. However, it is worth examining the situation at Racing – Argentina’s only sizeable club that is privately owned, following the takeover by Blanquiceleste in 2001.

Racing took the unprecedented step of banning its own barra brava, ‘La Guarda Imperial’, from home matches at the Cilindro de Avellaneda stadium. A step labelled as ‘interesting’ by Vickery, ‘but insufficient on its own to combat hooliganism’. The measure has nevertheless earned the club far reaching plaudits for their efforts in stamping out hooliganism, and the Cilindro is regarded as one of the safest stadiums in the country.

Racing are not without their problems, and to say that there is no supporter influence would be inaccurate: The tenure of current director, Fernando De Tomaso, has been dogged by rumours of corruption. Staff, both playing and non-playing went several months unpaid in 2006-7, and rumours that Blanquiceleste were pocketing club money were rife. This provoked fans to protest on more than one occasion, demanding that De Tomaso hold presidential elections at the club. Many experts predict the owner will step down.

Barra Brava at Boca Juniors Photo by Fabricio Di Dio

Is the problem being dealt with?

This year’s Clausura campaign is just three rounds old, and the trouble surrounding barras bravas does not seem to be going away. ‘Los Borrachos del Tablón’ marked the new season with violent scraps between the rival factions in the Monumental before their opener with Olimpia.

The political will to deal with the problem of football hooliganism, ‘while far from ideal, is stronger than in the past’, said Vickery. Indeed – the interior ministry are intervening, and cases against football hooliganism are getting to the courts.

On 19th February 2006, 35,000 were in attendance at Colón de Santa Fe’s Brigadier General Estanislao López stadium to watch the fixture against River Plate. During the match, a member of Colon’s barra brava, José Gastón Mendoza, pulled out a 17cm blade and stabbed a fellow fan in the chest, back, arms and right wrist. Television cameras were present for the match, and caught the incident on film, and 22 months later, on 22nd December 2007, Mendoza was sentenced to six years imprisonment for attempted murder.

How can the problem be solved?

The barra brava is big businesses: Joel Richards revealed in The Guardian that ‘Los Borrachos del Tablón’ earn approximately $300,000 a month touting tickets, controlling parking areas around River’s stadium and organising away trips for fans. It is also reported that the barra’s already sizeable income is regularly supplemented by cuts received from big money transfers.

Gol Celebration at River Stadium Photo by Maximiliano Neira

Institutional support of the barras bravas is possibly Argentine football’s worst kept secret – River president José María Aguilar in the past has vocalised his admiration of previous leaders of ‘Los Borrachos’, and on one occasion did so on live television.

"Even the most cast iron political will not be enough on its own in solving hooliganism" continued Vickery, citing the close relationship between club management and the fans as an impediment to eradicating the problem.

England is widely regarded as a country that has largely ridded football hooliganism from its domestic leagues. I asked Tim Vickery how England sorted out the problem, and if Argentina can follow suit:

"Increased punishment and enforcement measures are often cited in the English example," said Vickery. "What is often overlooked is that at the same time there was also a profound shift in fan culture – youth culture changed in the late 80s, hooliganism became less fashionable and fans distanced themselves from former practices and found new ways of expressing their support through the fanzine movement, for example. This phenomenon will clearly not repeat itself in the same way in Argentina, but I think it needs to manifest itself in some form. Top down measures will not be enough to solve the problem."

"The onus is also on the supporters to distance themselves from the barras bravas and find new ways of supporting the team. More modern stadiums can obviously play a part in this process, but at the end of the day stadiums are just buildings and laws are just pieces of paper. Without action from the bottom up – by the fans – the problem will not go away."

For more information on barras bravas, please visit www.hastaelgolsiempre.com