River president D'Onofrio sees 'no reasons' for stadium closure

Saturday’s game was abandoned before kick-off when Boca players were injured outside the stadium, plunging the fixture into uncertainty

River Plate president Rodolfo D’Onofrio is adamant that fans of his club should be allowed to attend Sunday’s Copa Libertadores final second leg match, despite the violence on Saturday that saw the match pushed back a day. 

Having tied 2-2 in the first leg, River and Boca were unable to take the field in the return match of this highly anticipated fixture on Saturday. 

Boca’s team coach was attacked by River fans outside the Monumental stadium , with two players requiring hospital treatment due to the injuries sustained. 

The match was eventually suspended and rescheduled for Sunday at 5pm local time (8pm GMT), but the Buenos Aires government confirmed on Saturday a “preventative closure” that put the match in doubt. 

It now seems as though the match will go on as planned on Sunday, with River set to pay a fine to open the stadium again, and D’Onofrio does not believe it should be played behind closed doors.  

“There are no reasons for the River stadium to be closed tomorrow. I can assure you that River is not responsible,” he told Fox . 

Despite his strong feelings that the match should be played in front of supporters on Sunday, D’Onofrio backed Boca Juniors president Daniel Angelici and the decision to move the match back a day to give the visiting side time to recover. 

Angelici contended that his side were in no condition to play the match  after the attacks and his River counterpart says moving the match was the right thing to do. 

“It’s a shame that we had to go through this,” D’Onofrio said. “River said that we cannot play against a team that is going through an understandable psychological situation. We agreed with Daniel.”

The 69-year-old was also appologetic to the supporters who made the trip to the match, only to have their plans ruined by the violence outside the stadium. 

“I feel bad, frustrated, tired,” he said. “I apologise to the fans.

“My daughter lives in Italy, I have two granddaughters, they arrived today and fly back tomorrow. I have this situation at home, imagine all the ones that came from all over the country. 

“I said to CONMEBOL from the start that we could not play today. I’m not going to give up. I don’t want to win this way.”