Peru’s national football team beat Paraguay 2-0 in well-played match Friday night, the first of the qualifying games for the World Cup in Brazil 2014, amid increased security put in place at the National Stadium by the police force.
The tight security measures follow the death of a fan during a recent club game between rivals Universitario and Alianza Lima at the Universitario stadium, where security measures were poor and police did not stem violence building up during the game.
Police General Raul Salazar said that 7,000 officers, including agents from specialized units, provided security for fans inside and outside the National stadium, daily El Comercio reported.
Police closed down traffic in the immediate surroundings of the stadium five hours before the start of the soccer match, which began at 8:15 p.m.
“The public will be able to start entering the stadium at 5:15 p.m.,” Salazar said. He said that “safety is the job of everyone.”
Salazar said that for the first time, police officers will also be present in the security camera booths to monitor potential outbursts of violence.
Police are looking to beef up security following public outrage over the death of Walter Oyarce, a fan of the Alianza Lima club who fell 10 meters when pushed off a box seat by rival fans supporting the Universitario team during a game in late-September.
Those identified in the videos and seen carrying out the attack were leaders of hooligans and had allegedly already been expelled from the rough Universitario fan club “Trinchera Norte” for previous violent incidents.
At least four people have been arrested in connection to the incident.
