BUENOS AIRES, Aug 9 (Reuters) - A leading figure in the
hardcore supporters club of Argentine first division side River
Plate died on Thursday, two days after being attacked and shot
in the head, a hospital spokesman said.
Gonzalo Acro, 29, had been in a coma since being shot three
times as he was leaving a gymnasium in the latest bout of
soccer-related violence.
'`I inform you that the patient (Acro) died in the early
hours of this morning,'` Mario Visiglia, a doctor at the Pirovano
hospital in Buenos Aires, told reporters.
Police sources said they were investigating whether Acro's
murder was related to in-fighting among the River Plate fan club
known as '`Los Borrachos del Tablon.'`
Acro was on a River Plate blacklist banning him from the
Monumental stadium and was widely recognised as being the
leading figure in one of the fan club's factions.
Last February, the rival factions clashed at the River Plate
social club, which adjoins the stadium, leaving a wake of
destruction and terrorising families who were using the swimming
pool.
Acro, who had a job in River's maintenance department, was
one of five employees fired following the incident. River were
given a five-match home ban, later reduced to three.
In May, an unidentified gunman sprayed bullets at the house
of Adrian Rousseau, another of the group's leaders.
Argentina suffers from chronic football violence, largely
blamed on the clubs of hardcore fans known locally as barras
bravas.
According to official statistics, Acro's is the 178th
soccer-related death since 1931, when the sport turned
professional in Argentina.
