Venezuelan soccer fans riot in protest of team’s pink jerseys, force game suspension

November 1, 2012

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Many sports teams did what they could to raise awareness for breast cancer during the month of October, but one soccer team’s attempt to do their part went terribly wrong.

Fans of the Venezuelan soccer team Deportivo Tachira stormed the pitch and refused to leave for at least 30 minutes before the team’s game against Atletico Venezuela on Sunday because they were upset Tachira was wearing pink uniforms instead of their traditional yellow and black kits. The pink uniforms were worn in support of Senos Ayuda Foundation — a non-profit cancer charity — and part of the team’s contribution to Breast Cancer Awareness.

A group of fans reportedly began waving their replica jerseys over their heads and chanted about “defending their colors” before going onto the field where they were penned in by riot police. After their protest lasted for over 30 minutes, the players were taken off the field and the game was suspended.

The team had been promoting the cancer awareness theme in the week leading up to the game. The Deportivo Tachira Twitter account continuously used a “#JuntosPorUnaNobleCausa” (translation: together for a noble cause) hashtag on their tweets all week. They also were giving free admission to the game (except the lower level of the stadium) to women wearing pink.

Congratulations, soccer fans, you’ve done it once again. We’ve seen soccer fans protest games in the past for really dumb reasons, and we’ve even seen a soccer fan killed for a really stupid reason. This horrible error in judgment ranks right up there with all of those awful stories.

You can see some of the photos from the incident in the beginning of this video: