Share
11th July 2024
09:39am BST
Darwin Nunez was at the centre of a brutal post-match brawl with Colombia fans in the stands after it was reported families were 'in danger'.
On the pitch, Uruguay lost 1-0 to their rivals and during the aftermath of the game, a brawl broke out.
Nunez jumped straight into the crowd with his family reportedly under threat.
The Associated Press confirmed that "the crowd of 70,644 was about 90 per cent in favour of Colombia, but a small patch of Uruguay fans fought with Colombia supporters as beverages were thrown.”
ESPN's report live from the stadium stated further: “I started to notice a couple of players on the Uruguay bench, the substitutes, started running frantically to the barrier and tried to climb over and get in the stands.
“It’s then that we realised it was their family section, a lot of the players’ families and partners were there with very young children. They were jumping over in an effort to try and separate the Colombia fans from them.”
Fists were subsequently thrown at Nunez in a punch-up, with one hit landing on his face.
Uruguay captain Jose Gimenez spoke to TUDN on the incident: “This is a disaster. Our family is in danger.
“We had to get into the stands to take out our loved ones with small babies, newborns. Everything was a disaster. There was not a single police officer.”
Uruguayan newspaper El Observador stated Ronald Araujo, Matias Vina and Mathias Olivera were also present with Nunez as they approached the stand, with the fight lasting approximately 10 minutes.
It took more than 10 minutes for police to descend on the fight scene and PA said that “about 100 Uruguayan fans and members of the federation staff remained on the field for their own protection more than 20 minutes after the game.”
After defending his family, Nunez consoled one of his visibly shaken children following the incident.
We hope everyone is well and safe now.
Explore more on these topics:
