What should have been a routine end to the match ended up becoming one of the most violent episodes Bolivian football has experienced in recent times. Real Oruro and Blooming drew 2-2 in the second leg of the Copa Bolivia quarterfinals, but the qualification of the Santa Cruz team triggered a true all-out brawl that left a shocking outcome: all kinds of assaults, police intervention with pepper spray, and a total of 17 expulsions among players and members of the coaching staffs.
The conflict broke out in the seconds following the final whistle, when a Real Oruro player interpreted a rival's celebration as a provocation and ran to confront him. The argument quickly attracted players from both sides and Blooming's own coach, Mauricio Soria, who tried to separate them to prevent further chaos. However, the tension moved just a few feet away and led to a second outbreak of fighting, this time with punches, shoving, and chases involving players, assistants, and members of the coaching staffs.
The police entered with shields to contain the scene, but the violence escalated even further when the officers were forced to use pepper spray to disperse those involved. Cameras captured flying kicks from Real Oruro players, players from both teams on the ground being shoved, and several members of the benches entangled in heated arguments.
In one of the most tense moments, the television broadcast recorded a confrontation between a member of Blooming's coaching staff and Real Oruro's coach, Marcelo Robledo, who ended up falling to the grass after being pushed.
The sanctioned
The preliminary referee's report, released hours later, confirmed the scale of the disgrace: 17 expulsions in total. Blooming had 10 sent off: Gabriel Valverde, Richet Gómez, Franco Posse, César Romero, Héctor Suárez, Roberto Carlos Melgar, César Menacho, coach Soria, doctor Henry Seas, and assistant José Luis Vaca. In Real Oruro, the remaining 7 were shown red cards: Raúl Gómez, Julio Vila, Yerco Vallejos, Eduardo Álvarez, coach Robledo, and assistants Iván Salinas and Rubén Poquechoque.
After this episode, the Disciplinary Tribunal of the Bolivian Football Federation is awaiting the referee's final report to determine sanctions that could be exemplary, both due to the seriousness of the events and the clarity of the images already released.
