Living in Peru : your everyday companion

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

The rivalry between fans of Peru's top football clubs escalated to a higher level on Wednesday when a 22-year-old man was shot and killed as he made his way to an Universitario match.

Daniel Blanco and seven of his friends were shot on Wednesday as they headed towards a soccer match that was to be played by Universitario de Deportes and Sporting Cristal, the Andean country's highest ranked football clubs at the moment.

As police attempt to find the murderer, many have speculated that it was the member of a gang that represents Alianza Lima, another well-known football club in Peru.

Of the eight people that were shot, Daniel is the only one that was killed.

Two fourteen year olds, one fifteen year old, two seventeen year olds, one eighteen year old and a twenty year old were all wounded and had to be taken to the hospital after a man on the back of a motorcycle opened fire on them.

Because extremely large crowds of fans are formed to walk to matches, Peruvian police escort them to maintain delinquents under control.

This has surprised authorities even further. The eight men were shot in the presence of police escorts.

Due to the long and historic rivalry between Alianza Lima and Universitario de Deportes as well as the violence at matches known as "Clasicos", authorities are currently discussing the possibility of canceling Sunday's football match.

It was reported that a decision is to be made by 6 p.m. on Friday.