Boca Juniors vs. River Plate: Copa Libertadores final won't be played in Argentina; Miami among considered venues
Boca Juniors is pressing for River Plate's disqualification after Sunday's second leg was postponed
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It remains to be seen if the Copa Libertadores final second leg is ever played, but one thing is for sure -- it happen in Argentina. Following last week's incidents where the Boca Juniors bus was attacked by River Plate fans, CONMEBOL, the South American soccer's governing body, announced on Tuesday that the final will not be played in Argentina.
Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl reported on Monday that a group from Miami is pushing to get the city to host the final, while other locations that have been reported are Italy, Dubai, Paraguay and Brazil.
Nota entregada por el Presidente de la CONMEBOL a los presidentes de los clubes River Plate y Boca Juniors en la reunión del martes 27 en la sede la de CONMEBOL, en Paraguay. pic.twitter.com/qNBYTRZXx6
— CONMEBOL.com (@CONMEBOL) November 27, 2018
CONMEBOL says that the game will be played on either Dec. 8 or 9, but it is all pending the decision of the federation's disciplinary committee filed by Boca Juniors requesting River Plate's disqualification. Boca has stated that it will take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport if need be, according to Tato Aguilera of TyC Sports. Aguilera is also reporting that Boca Juniors' firm stance is to not play the game in any other circumstances, because it does not want to play it, and it will use every resource to push for the game to be forfeited on River's behalf.
Boca Juniors president Daniel Angelici, sent a letter to CONMEBOL citing Article 18 of CONMEBOL's rule book, which states that disqualification is a possible punishment as the result of Article 8, which says that the association and home club is responsible for the behavior and security of players, officials, club members and fans inside the stadium and around the stadium before, during and after matches.
Back in the 2015 Copa Libertadores round of 16, Boca Juniors was disqualified from the tournament after its fans attacked River Plate players with pepper spray prior to the start of the second half. Boca Juniors is seeking the same punishment on its fierce Buenos Aires rival.
"Any sanction different from the one applied to Boca would bring a clear and unfair discrepancy," Boca wrote to CONMEBOL on Monday, per the New York Times.
More news is expected later in the week. Boca's president, River's president and the president of AFA met with CONMEBOL's president Alejandro Dominguez on Tuesday in Paraguay.
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