Club America-Toluca brawl: Estadio Azteca avoids shutdown

TL;DR

Estadio Azteca will remain open for Club América's match despite a brawl during the game against Toluca. The incident involved multiple players and was exacerbated by fans racially abusing a player after the match.

Key points

Estadio Azteca remains open for Club América's match
Brawl occurred during Club América's 2-1 win over Toluca
Helinho received a red card for a dangerous tackle
Fans racially abused a player after the match
Fighting continued in the tunnel post-match

Mentioned in this story

HelinhoAlan CervantesAlejandro ZendejasAntonio MohamedAndre Jardine

Club AméricaToluca

The Estadio Azteca (also known as Estadio Banorte) will remain open for this weekend's Club América match after a brawl between players during the team's game against Toluca on Saturday, and a video showing fans racially abusing a player after the contest put its status in jeopardy.

In the 97th minute of América's 2-1 win over Toluca, winger Helinho chopped down América's Alan Cervantes, immediately drawing a red card for the danger of his tackle. That drew more than half the players on each team to the far sideline where they engaged in a shoving match.

After that skirmish calmed, another incident popped up near the center circle, with América winger Alejandro Zendejas and Helinho getting physical before assistant referee Karen Diaz restrained Zendejas from further confrontation. After being separated, Helinho again went after Zendejas, slapping him in the head.

Finally, teammates ushered Helinho off the field, but cameras captured Toluca manager Antonio Mohamed chirping his rival, América manager Andre Jardine, about their history. Toluca is the back-to-back Liga MX champion after ending Club América's run of three consecutive titles.

But videos posted on social media later showed that the fighting continued into the tunnel players use to get to their locker rooms.

Helinho was involved in additional physical confrontations, with fans watching through a glass door. One fan was shown flipping off the winger, a gesture Helinho returned. Another fan then is heard making racist insults toward the player.

The video below contains offensive gestures and language

Club América's regular-season finale risked being played behind doors because of the incidents, but América put tickets for Saturday's game on sale this week and the FMF, Mexican soccer's governing body, confirmed late Monday night that the stadium would receive only a fine for "the conduct displayed by fans who attended the match."