Alianza Lima has denied mistreating Universitario de Deportes' delegation during the Peruvian clasico at Matute, saying in a lengthy statement that the security arrangements used at the stadium matched a protocol approved by the relevant authorities before the match.
The club's response came after Franco Velazco, administrator of Universitario de Deportes, accused Alianza Lima of poor treatment toward his delegation during the game, which Alianza Lima lost 2-1 at the Estadio Alejandro Villanueva.
Velazco's accusations
Speaking on the programme "Hablemos de Max," Velazco described the conduct of Alianza Lima's directors as reprehensible. He said it had been unfortunate how Universitario's directors were treated during the clasico, adding that there had been reprehensible situations, including being locked, literally, in the visiting team's dressing room area, based on arguments he considered to have no basis whatsoever.
Velazco said he had been kept in the dressing room zone for more than three hours and also questioned the poor condition of the box that had been assigned to him for the match.
He went on to say that Alianza Lima's board had behaved like a small club, that Universitario had been treated like a small club, and that the conduct throughout had been that of a small club. He said Alianza had posted internal security personnel near the visitors' dressing room, with two security staff permanently filming Universitario's movements. Velazco said he understood the security official in question had been working his first clasico as head of security, and that the man had appeared completely lost, with no answers to give.
Alianza Lima's statement
In its communique, Alianza Lima said the security arrangements applied at the Estadio Alejandro Villanueva corresponded to the protocol approved before the match by the competent authorities. The club said that protocol set out the locations assigned to each delegation, the areas with restricted movement and the conditions applicable during the event.
Alianza Lima reaffirmed that the protocols established for the visiting delegation were the ones applied during the clasico, part of the Torneo Clausura of Peru's Liga 1. The club said it had executed that protocol under the terms established and had applied no measure different from what had previously been agreed, adding that the locations and conditions applicable to both delegations were those set out in the protocol and had been known to both parties in advance.
The club said it held documentation of the security arrangements and a recording of the match, and that it would make both available to whichever body required them.
Peru's biggest rivalry
Alianza Lima, founded in 1901, and Universitario de Deportes, founded in 1924, are two of the most decorated clubs in Peruvian football, and their meetings, known simply as the clasico, are the most followed fixture in the country. Alianza Lima plays its home matches at the Estadio Alejandro Villanueva, commonly known as Matute, in Lima's La Victoria district. The clasico that sparked the dispute formed part of the Torneo Clausura, the second stage of the Liga 1 season.
