Although it was scheduled to be played at the Antel Arena, the classic between Nacional and Peñarol for the 13th date of the Uruguayan Basketball League will be played on the Unión Atlética court where the tricolors officiate as tenants.
The match will be played on Friday at 7:00 p.m. with a important security operation and only with Nacional fans.
The president of the National basketball branch, Ariel Martínez, explained to Referee the reasons that motivated the change of scenery, something that had the endorsement of the Uruguayan Basketball Federation (FUBB) and the Ministry of the Interior.
“The conditions were not given to play in the Antel Arena and mobilize 7,300 people of Nacional through the neighborhoods of Montevideo in one very close to where the bars of both clubs coexist where, although there are normally no problems, we are in a very sensitive moment,” he said in reference to the recent murder on January 10 of a Nacional fan who had been convicted of the crime of a Peñarol partisan in 2016 and the immediate death of a young man who wore the Peñarol shirt.
Bruno Tasende, basketuruguay.uy
Manuel Romero in the 2021 classic played in Florida
The day after the death of the Nacional fan, the Peñarol fans sang songs celebrating this crime on the occasion of the Uruguayan Basketball League match played against Trouville at the Peñarol Palace, while on Monday, in the Gran Parque Central, in the fans of Nacional unfurled a flag in tribute to the fallen tricolor fan.
“Another reason to change the scenario was economics because the costs of the Antel Arena were going to be difficult to cover, but the main reason was security. The Unión Atlética area is not a problem for the fans and mobilizing 650 people is going to be viable both outside and inside the stage,” said Martínez.
Nacional fans will gather at 120 meters of one of the access doors to the field. Players, technical staff and Peñarol officials will enter through another access point and will have a separate place to arrive at the club to park their vehicles.
On the field, they will not have an audience behind their bench and there will also be a separation fence.
Why will it be played without visiting fans? “Because on the day of the draw I spoke with Evaristo González (president of Peñarol basketball) and offered him to play the two classics at the Antel Arena with both fans and sharing 50% of the proceeds, but he told me that Peñarol wanted to play at Palacio Peñarol without visiting fans. And there I apply reciprocity. Just like we did with Goes, who told us that he was going to play in Plaza de las Misiones without an visiting public,” explained Martínez.
The 650 tickets will go on sale from Wednesday through Tickantel and with priority for partners. The cost will be $350 and $300 for members. who make an exclusive contribution to basketball. If there is a remainder, they will be sold on Thursday for the general public at $650.
Nacional generally works with eight private security guards in the games, with one or two references. In some games that number increases to 10 or 12. “In this game it will be more,” Martinez said. In a meeting that will take place in the afternoon between authorities of the Ministry of the Interior and those in charge of security of Nacional and Peñarol, the effective number will be determined, the number of police officers that the Ministry of the Interior will assign to the outskirts of Unión Atlética and the possibility of police inside the gym.
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