Msgr Alirio López A Colombian priest who dedicated years of his life to reducing violence at soccer stadiums died in Bogotá, where he was mourned at a church by hundreds of parishioners, including some wearing jerseys of the city’s two biggest soccer clubs.
Msgr Alirio López, 66, was one of the first public personalities in Colombia to address the problem of violence among soccer fans, paving the way for numerous programs that are now implemented by city governments in different parts of the country.
In the early 2000s, Msgr López helped Bogotá’s municipal government set up a project called Goals in Peace that reduced deadly brawls within stadiums and in some of the city’s neighbourhoods.
Leveraging his prestige and contacts, he organised regular meetings between supporters of clubs; their leaders agreed on which routes they would use to enter stadiums for big matches and even which kinds of chants and posters would be “banned” at the pitch to avoid provocation, said Rafael Rubiano, the head of a supporters’ group for the Santa Fe Football Club.
With the city’s funds, Msgr López also organised soccer tournaments in which hundreds of fans of different teams participated, as well as music workshops that brought hardened supporters of rival teams together. Similar initiatives are now implemented in cities like Cali and Medellín.