In that incident, 17 people were arrested and at least 38 injured as groups of hardcore official supporters, known as barras, threw flares from the upper tier of the stadium and brawled with police officers.
Since the event, the barras have been banned from attending. This fact, coupled with the club’s recent poor performance meant that seats were eerily empty last season.
Traditionally, Mexican soccer is known for its family-friendly atmosphere, with rival supporters politely sharing the stands in a way that would never happen in Europe or South America. Yet this began to change in the late 1990’s when Club Pachuca, in the state of Hidalgo, hired a Chilean adviser to organize barras, a concept that that had already taken off in countries like Argentina.
The barras follow their clubs religiously, and are supposed to enhance the atmosphere in the stadium. However, the combination of alcohol and soccer rivalry occasionally leads to violence.
The return of the barras and a one peso ticket promotion saw the stadium fill to its capacity for Sunday’s game against Pumas.
It was a great day to sellout, as Chivas notched a 2-1 win that pulled the club from the bottom of the relegation table.