Colombia's unique antidote to football hooliganism: dialogue
By AFP
Published May 19, 2023
A spate of recent violent incidents by football hooligans in Colombia has highlighted a new government approach to the problem - Copyright AFP
SAUL LOEB
David SALAZAR
Alejandro Gallego’s match ended in a coffin after the 25-year-old was one of three people killed during a knife fight between rival Atletico Nacional and Independiente Medellin football hooligans last month.
“It’s the most absurd thing that can happen, they’re killing kids over a club badge,” his distraught father, William Gallego, told AFP after the funeral.
“Football is not about killing each other.”
Hooliganism is a major problem in Colombia football: there have been 350 football-related deaths in the country, according to academic studies.
Despite calls to come down hard on the perpetrators, President Gustavo Petro has decided on an alternative policy: dialogue.
It is a tactic he has already employed with belligerent armed groups as part of his “total peace” plan to end six decades of conflict in the South American country.
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