FIFA and its president, Gianni Infantino, expressed their condolences on Sunday for the death of 12 fans after a human stampede at the Cuscatlán Stadium in the capital of El Salvador, within the framework of a game between Alianza and Futbolistas Asociados Santanecos (FAS).
“I want to express my deepest condolences to the relatives and friends of the victims who lost their lives after the tragic incidents that occurred in El Salvador during the match between Alianza FC and Club Deportivo FAS,” Infantino said, according to a statement.
He added that “together with FIFA and the world football community, All our condolences and prayers are with those affected.as well as with the inhabitants of the Republic of El Salvador, the CONCACAF confederation, the Salvadoran Football Federation and the First Division of El Salvador Football, in these difficult times.”
The letter states that the FIFA president “also made reference to the tragic incident in his speech before the 76th World Health Assembly, which began to be held this Sunday, May 21, in Geneva (Switzerland).”
The world soccer entity confirmed that “a minute of silence will be observed before the four games played this Sunday May 21 at the U-20 World Cup of FIFA Argentina 2023″.
In addition, “as a sign of respect, the flags of El Salvador, FIFA and all the confederations were flown at half mast at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich.”
The death of these 12 people, which becomes the greatest sports tragedy in the Central American country, occurred within the framework of the return game for the quarterfinals of the Clausura 2023 tournament.
Different world football teams have expressed their condolences to the Salvadoran fans, as has the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).
The Salvadoran authorities investigate the fact, without so far they have pointed to any alleged culprit.