Argentinian football had the chance to prove it had changed – and blew it

Talk before Copa Libertadores final was of putting on a new face to the world but River Plate fans’ attack on Boca Juniors changed all that

At around 6pm on Sunday evening, an hour after the second leg of the Copa Libertadores final had been due to kick off, four hours after the game had, yet again, been abandoned, a group of River Plate fans on the Subte [Buenos Aires’ underground trains] started up a slow, melancholic song, talking of attacks and pepper spray. Already the events of Saturday, what the Conmebol president Alejandro Domínguez described as “a disgrace”, have passed into legend: the game that wasn’t and, depending on the outcome of a meeting in Asunción, Paraguay on Tuesday, might never be.

Related: Copa Libertadores: second leg of final called off again hours before kick-off

Conmebol, also, must be the subject of scrutiny if it really did try to coerce Boca to play the game on Saturday

Related: River fans attack on Boca bus halts Copa Libertadores final for 24 hours

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