THIS is the sickening moment hooligans attack children they mistake for rival supporters at an Argentinian first division match.
Eight of the youngsters – aged 10 to 15 ended up in hospital – along with an adult who was accompanying them after fans from Club Atletico Patronato assaulted them.
The violence erupted when the children, from a football team given a regional government invite to the match, unfurled a flag.
It was mistaken for one belonging to home side Patronato’s rivals Union Santa Fe.
And several burly men – some shirtless – could be seen chasing the children off the terraces before punching an adult who was with them as he struggled to defend himself from a flurry of punches to the head.
The adult, the father of one of the boys, suffered a broken nose and one of the kids had to have three stitches to a knee injury.
Emanuel Moyano, a PE teacher who was among the five adults with the 35 children who attended the game, said afterwards: “They had knives and sticks. It was terrible. We saw them grab the kids by their necks.
“Some were visiting a football stadium for the first time in their lives and this is the sad image and experience they’ve taken away with them.”
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Revealing the hooligans had mistaken the colours on a flag they took with them to the ground which had white lettering on a red background – the same two colours Union play in – he told a local paper: “There was a Union supporter in our part of the ground and after Union’s second goal we saw someone making signs.
“Shortly after around 50 men arrived and began to shout at the Union supporter but then forgot about him and began to attack us.
“We tried to gather the children together to leave. They picked the boys up by their necks and when we tried to defend them they began to hit us.
“When we got back home and they saw their parents waiting for them, all the children began to cry and the majority said they never wanted to set foot inside a football stadium ever again.
“What should have been an unforgettable experience has sadly finished the way it has.”
The youngsters play in Under-13s and Under-15 teams at a side called Deportivo Strobel, nicknamed Los Gurises, based in the city of Diamante a five-hour drive north west of the Argentinian capital Buenos Aires.
Before travelling to Patronato’s stadium an hour’s drive away from Diamante, they posed for a group picture with a banner which said: “Los Gurises are going to the stadium.”
Away side Union picked up the three points after beating Patronato 3-2 in the match they went to see.
Local reports said two men have been arrested over the violence.
Patronato, which is based in Parana in the province of Entre Rios an hour’s drive north of Diamante, condemned the vile attack and promised its full cooperation with investigators.
Argentina has a terrible record of football violence. Its extremist fans are nicknamed barras bravas.
In April a football fan was killed after being pushed from the stands.
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Emanuel Balbo, 26, suffered fatal head injuries after being lifted in the air by fellow supporters of the SAME Argentinian team he supports and thrown onto concrete below.
Gut-wrenching footage showed him trying to escape as he was punched on the back of the head – and moments later lying face-down, barefoot and unconscious, on a concrete step several feet below the spot where he fell.
Reports at the time said he had argued with a man he accused of being responsible for the death of his brother in a traffic accident in 2012.
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