A mass brawl broke out in the stands on Tuesday night
Emiliano Martinez was spotted manhandling a police officer as he jumped into the crowd to protect Argentina fans from Brazilian authorities.
Brazil were facing Argentina at the Maracana on Tuesday night however the start to the game was delayed by 30 minutes as fans clashed in the stands.
? Emiliano Martinez going against a Brazilian policeman just minutes before… pic.twitter.com/Lj0XdWpzzd
— Eduardo Hagn (@EduardoHagn) November 22, 2023
As both sets of supporters began fighting during the national anthem, police officers intervened and charged towards the visiting fans, leaving some of them bloodied as a result.
Among the shocking scenes, Martinez was spotted jumping into the crowd to try and slap a baton out of a police officer’s hands before being pulled away by his teammates.
FIFA have since opened an investigation against Aston Villa’s keeper for a violation of their rules on offensive behaviour and fair play under Article 11 of their Disciplinary Code.
Lionel Messi also hit out at the behaviour of the authorities, tweeting: “We saw how [police] were hitting the people, it already happened in the Libertadores final.
“They were more focused on that than on the game.”
Messi was referring to the violent scenes that took place before Fluminense’s win over Boca Juniors in the same stadium earlier this month.
Argentina went on to win the game 1-0 as Nicolas Otamendi’s second-half header ensured the World Cup holders continued their positive start to defending the trophy.
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