Argentine soccer player Franco Nieto died Wednesday from injuries sustained Tuesday in an attack by the opposing team’s fans following a match.
Nieto — the former captain of the Tiro Federal club — was jumped by three hooligans while walking his wife and infant daughter to their car following a match against Chacarita Juniors. The match had been unceremoniously canceled after referees ejected eight players for fighting on the pitch, BBC reports.
After one attacker struck Nieto in the head with a brick, he fell unconscious before being rushed to the hospital.
Nieto was pronounced dead late Wednesday night.
I make fun of soccer a lot, but this is a dangerous issue. In 2014, there have been 15 soccer-related deaths in Argentina alone. I repeat. A NON-CONTACT SPORT HAS KILLED MORE THAN A DOZEN PEOPLE THIS YEAR, and that’s only in one, single country.
You want your sport to be taken seriously? Why don’t you have your fans stop rioting and murdering people?
There’s no room for “Green Street Hooligans” on American soil.
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