Efrain Viafara Starts a Riot With His Bum

The Peruvian league game between Sport Ancash and Universitario was abandoned this weekend due to a player brawl and fan riot, all caused by one player’s cheeky first touch. With Sport Ancash leading 2-1, goalscorer Efrain Viafara controlled the ball by bringing it down with his arse. Impressive skills no doubt, but Universitario saw it differently. Apparently the entire team took offense to what they saw as Viafara mocking them, and chased the Sport Ancash player around the pitch. Fighting erupted in the stands and fans poured onto the pitch, at which point referee Percy Rojas decided enough was enough and abandoned the game.

Unfortunately there’s no footage of Viafara’s riot sparking bit of buttock control, so we’ll have to settle for the above demonstration by Ronaldo in his Real Madrid days. [update: footage found, see below] Because Ancash were leading at the time of the incident, and because Viafara had scored the all-important second goal, this incident goes to the heart of a huge cultural debate in South American football about showboating. Should talented players be allowed to show off their skills whenever and wherever they feel like it? Or is over-extravagance an unacceptable way of humiliating opposition players?

Not so long ago, Kerlon sparked the debate in Brazil with his seal dribble and the BBC’s excellent South American correspondent Tim Vickery summed up the issue here, pointing out that many South American nations view this kind of showboating with the same disdain as other nations view diving for example.

Certainly Universitario captain Mayer Candelo felt Viafara’s behaviour was so bad it warranted an early bath. “If they had sent off Viafara none of this would have happened,” he said.

My feeling is that this theory holds water only if one team is dishing out a severe beating to the other. If Sporting Ancash had been leading Universitario 6-0 then Viafara’s butt-trick could be seen as mockery. But they were only leading 2-1 and there was still plenty to play for.

Here’s video of Viafara doing the contentious trick, as spotted by eagle eyed reader Patrick.

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Category: South America