(Reuters) – A Brazilian woman died on Monday after suffering a cut to the neck when she was hit by a glass bottle thrown during a brawl between Palmeiras and Flamengo fans before their match on Saturday.
Gabriela Anelli, a 23-year-old Palmeiras fan, was seriously injured while waiting to enter the Allianz Parque stadium in Sao Paulo. According to the military police, she was taken to a medical centre in a serious condition, but died two days later.
“Thanks to everyone who prayed for my sister, but she went to live with the father in heaven,” her brother, Felipe Anelli, said on Instagram.
A minute’s silence will be observed at all games in the 15th round of the Brazilian championship in honour of Anelli, said Ednaldo Rodrigues, president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF).
He added that they had been working with the federal government and other relevant bodies to combat fan violence.
“Football is passion and not a space for the action of criminals infiltrating the fans to practise all kinds of violence,” he said in a statement.
During the clash, police were also attacked with glass bottles and used pepper spray to try to restore order. It seeped into the stadium and the referee had to stop the match twice in the first half due to the players feeling irritation in their eyes and nose.
“We cannot accept that a 23-year-old girl should be the victim of barbarism in an environment that should be one of entertainment. We express our solidarity with the family of the Palmeiras girl and demand a speedy investigation into this crime,” Palmeiras said on social media.
“On an occasion that should have been a purely sporting dispute, a young woman lost her life in a barbaric and unjustifiable manner that deserves to be punished with rigour,” Flamengo posted on Twitter.
A representative of the Department of Strategic Police Operations said on Monday that the person responsible for throwing the bottle was arrested and will be charged with intentional homicide.
(Reporting by Angelica Medina in Mexico City; Editing by Toby Davis)
