BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentina’s security ministry said Monday it had filed a criminal complaint, and the Argentine Football Association launched an antisemitism investigation over fans’ actions as their team faced off against a soccer club from a predominantly Jewish neighborhood.
Fans of the second division All Boys soccer club staged anti-Israel protests — including parading a coffin in their rival team’s colors that was draped in the Israeli flag — prior to the Sunday match.
The team was playing against the Atlanta soccer club, which comes from the Villa Crespo neighborhood, where Jewish immigrants settled in the early 1900s.
During the match, which ended in a 0-0 draw, fans waved Palestinian and Iranian flags.
Flyers and pamphlets were also found outside the stadium reading “Israel and Atlanta are the same crap” and “Clear off to Israel” under a banner reading “Death to the genocidal state of Israel.”
Additionally, a drone bearing a Palestinian flag flew over the stadium, and some fans of the All Boys home team chanted anti-Israel slogans.
Argentina’s security ministry, in its complaint, accused fans of “demonstrations of violence, expressions of racial and religious hatred, and public intimidation.”
The Argentine Football Association also condemned what it described as “antisemitic acts” by All Boys club fans during the Sunday match.
The Association in a statement expressed “its total and absolute repudiation of the abhorrent acts of antisemitism carried out by fans of All Boys yesterday, both before and during the match between the club and Atlanta.”
Police in Buenos Aires have issued infractions for inciting disorder, among other crimes, against fans of the club.
The Argentine Delegation of Jewish Associations condemned the incidents and demanded that “the relevant authorities, the AFA, and the All Boys Club act firmly against these acts of hatred.”
The Jewish community in Argentina, the largest in Latin America, is estimated at around 300,000 members.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.