According to a South American official, approximately 6,000 Argentine fans who have been identified by authorities in their home country will not be allowed to enter football stadiums in Qatar during the World Cup tournament.
Buenos Aires’ Minister of Justice and Security, Marcelo D’Alessandro, told local radio in an interview that nearly 1,600 of the 6,000 fans barred from entering the grounds are from the capital.
“We want to return peace to football and ensure that the violent ones are out,” said Mr D’Alessandro said.
“They were included for belonging to the barras [violent fan groups], for participating in violent acts, for illicit associations such as ‘trapitos’ [banned street businesses] and for owing child maintenance payments.”
“As always in the World Cups, delegations of different police bodies will be sent to work together with the Qatari security authorities,” he said.
Doha is expected to host millions of fans from around the world when the tournament beings on November 20 and has already sold nearly 3 million match tickets.
