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Chilean Super Cup final suspended after fan violence causes FIRE in the stands

  /  autty

The Chilean Super Cup final was forced to be suspended after fan violence lead to a fire breaking out in the stands on Sunday evening.

Colo Colo and Huachipato were in the latter stages of their clash at the Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos when fan groups caused the match to be halted.

Supporters from the 'Garra Blanca' - an ultras group for Colo Colo - had been disruptive prior to kick-off, however, caused chaos after attempting to get on the pitch during the second-half.

Chilean news outlet La Tercera report that the Garra Blanca 'invaded the athletics track' on the outer perimeter of the pitch, with the intention of making their way onto the field.

As police battled with the supporters to keep them off the pitch, scenes at the stadium quickly turned ugly as flares and fireworks were then let off in the stands.

After around half an hour, the match was able to resume as police and other officials managed to subdue the supporters - but only temporarily.

Shortly after the restart, the match was called off officially as unrest continued to grow and, eventually, a fire sparked out from within the stands.

Footage showed the flames burning as supporters still stood in the stadium.

After the match, former Barcelona and current Colo Colo star Arturo Vidal was quick to criticise the incident and insisted that safety 'measures' must be put in place.

'In other places there are other measures. We have to carefully analyze what happened,' Vidal said.

The Chilean news outlet also reported that problem occurred almost immediately, as flares and fireworks were let off before a ball had even been kicked.

They also claim that the minute's silence, which was held for the late former president Sebastián Piñera and victims of the fires in the Valparaíso Region, were not respected.

Then at half-time, according to DirectTV Sport, the Garra Blanca fans began rioting to a more extreme level and began to destroy seats and throw them on the pitch.

The second-half was delayed by an extra 15 minutes - on top of the allocated 15 minutes - before they then later tried to enter the pitch via the athletics track.

Colo Colo had been winning the match 2-0 before officials opted to suspend it in 78th minute.

Through a header in the 11th minute, Carlos Palacios made it 1-0 by connecting with a cross before Vidal converted from the penalty spot in the 22nd minute.

It was the Chilean midfielder's first appearance for the club since resigning for them back in January.