Argentina's Estudiantes president promises sanctions for match brawl

The president of Argentinian soccer club Estudiantes de La Plata, Juan Sebastian Veron, promised on Monday he will enforce internal sanctions against the players that led a scandal during the match against rivals Gimnasia.

"Obviously there are issues that we will talk about at an internal level. It is clear that we have to take some type of action," the former soccer player, who played in three World Cups, told local television channel Todo Noticias.

The scenes of violence displayed in Mar de Plata's World Cup stadium, southeast of Buenos Aires, on Sunday did not achieve anything according to Veron, who played in three World Cups. The match was supposed to be a friendly but ended in a free-for-all between players on the pitch.

"I understand why the players got upset but I definitely don't support these types of actions when we are talking about Estudiantes," said the former midfielder who has been president of the club since the end of 2014.

Before the match, Veron spoke "with the team, with the captain (Leandro Desabato), to prevent violent actions," but "it seems it wasn't enough."

"We are a club that tries to take care of these aspects. We represent the founding colors," lamented the 40-year-old president who added however that the players would "face up" to what happened.

Veron played for Argentina in the World Cups in France 1998, South Korea-Japan 2002 and South Africa 2010.

Veron retired from Estudiantes in June 2012, although he returned to play for the club until he was dismissed on May 18, 2014. Enditem