According to D'Onofrio, some players had burns on their skin and visible damage to their jerseys. He also warned that the attack could have been even more serious: "They could have even set the tunnel on fire".
The former president of River recalled the fateful event in the 2015 Libertadores against Boca and shared unpublished details
According to D'Onofrio, some players had burns on their skin and visible damage to their jerseys. He also warned that the attack could have been even more serious: "They could have even set the tunnel on fire".
"It was an attack, because one thing is to throw two or three little things at them, and another thing is to break a tunnel and do what they did through that tunnel", added the former River official. "Make no mistake: I would do it again", he concluded, referring to his decision to go down to the field.
After the incident, River gathered medical and documentary evidence, which was taken to the CONMEBOL headquarters in Paraguay by members of the club's legal department. "We couldn't ask for anything, just present what happened", he explained.
Finally, the South American body suspended the match and declared River's advancement to the quarterfinals. "When they talked about 'desk', I laughed. The only thing I did was defend my players and I would do it again", reiterated D'Onofrio.
For the official, that event was a turning point in his administration: "The pepper spray marked me as president", he concluded.
May 14, 2015, was marked as one of the darkest nights in the history of the Superclásico. That rematch between Boca and River, for the round of 16 of the Copa Libertadores, ended in scandal after a pepper spray attack on the visiting team's players in the middle of the Bombonera. A decade after the incident, Rodolfo D'Onofrio, then president of River, didn't hesitate to describe the episode as "an attack".
The Núñez team had won 1-0 in the first leg. In the return match, with the score tied at zero and as they were entering the field to play the second half, several River players were sprayed with pepper spray from the inflatable tunnel that connects the locker rooms to the field.
"I went to defend my players", explained D'Onofrio, who entered the field amid the chaos. In a conversation with Clarín, the former official recalled the hostile context that was present from the start: "There were war-like signs that said: 'You won't leave here alive'".
D'Onofrio recounted that he became aware of the severity of the attack when he received a message from a renowned ophthalmologist, who warned him about possible severe eye injuries in the affected players. "It was an instinctive reaction. I went down to the field because they could have been my children", he said.
Regarding his conversation with referee Darío Herrera, the former River president stated: "I told him 'Sir, I hold you responsible for the players' health'. Nothing more. Everything that was said afterward is a lie".