The safety and policing of Argentine stadia finds itself in the spotlight once again after a weekend of incidents across the country. The now familiar sight of in-fighting between separate factions of barra bravas was evident in Tigre, a San Lorenzo fan fell to his death during the clásico and players from Chacarita Juniors were subjected to pepper gas at full time after remonstrating with the match officials. With every incident the pressure surely mounts on the AFA and the police to find a way to maintain the atmosphere that makes Argentine football so special but without the almost weekly episodes of violence and aggression.

Tensions surrounding a clásico like the one between San Lorenzo and Huracán are always going to run high but despite some incidents in the build-up to the match, tragedy struck inside the stadium when the supporters were celebrating the teams third goal.

Pablo Giménez fell 40 metres from the top of the stand and died at the scene but has left another seriously injured after falling onto him and his son. The child is without injuries but the father remains in hospital after it emerged that the ambulance was unable to get to the stadium.

Earlier in Victoria, a fight broke out between two factions of Tigre’s barra brava during half time of the sides victory over Atlético Rafaela. Police made 18 arrests but this fairly regular occurance around Argentina makes a mockery of the AFA’s visiting fans ban. It is difficult to argue that since away fans were unable to attend matches there has been any decrease in violence at football.

On Saturday the trouble was not in the stands or outside the stadium but between the players and the police following Gimnasia de Mendoza’s contentious victory over Chacarita Juniors in the Nacional B.

After Gimnasia netted a winner one minute after the alloted four minutes of injury time had been played, the Chacarita players surrounded the match officials. Whilst making their views obvious it is understood that the police used pepper gas to force them back and the footage on television clearly showed some of the players feeling the effects of this.

The actions of the police appears a little disproportionate and the farsical nature of the episode should not distract from seriousness of the issue of policing football in Argentina.