Argentina soccer fans riot, chanting 'kill the Jews to make soap'

All Boys fans chanted the antisemitic slogan as they waved Palestinian flags and T-shirts bearing Iranian symbols.

By JTA
River Plate's fans inside the stadium, November (photo credit: MARCOS BRINDICCI/REUTERS)
River Plate's fans inside the stadium, November
(photo credit: MARCOS BRINDICCI/REUTERS)
Home-team soccer fans in Argentina chanted about “killing the Jews to make soap” during a match with a team historically associated with the Jewish community and rioted when the visitors won.
Atlanta, a professional Argentine team founded more than a century ago in a Jewish neighborhood, played All Boys at their stadium in Buenos Aires on Thursday.
All Boys fans chanted the antisemitic slogan as they waved Palestinian flags and T-shirts bearing Iranian symbols.
Atlanta won the match, 3-2, triggering violence by the All Boys fans. Some spectators entered the locker area for cover until police arranged for them to exit the stadium safely.
All Boys fans also assaulted police, destroying property at the stadium.
“The Argentine Football Association must sanction the club for this antisemitic offense,” Shimon Samuels, Simon Wiesenthal Center’s director for International Relations, wrote in a statement Friday.
Atlanta has several Jewish players, as well as members of its administrative staff. Police are investigating the incident.