Brazilian woman dies after brawl between fans at a soccer match

A Brazilian woman died on Monday during a clash between fans of the Palmeiras and Flamengo soccer teams ahead of their upcoming match on Saturday, authorities said. 

Twenty-three-year-old Palmeiras fan Gabriela Anelli was injured while she was waiting to enter the Allianz Parque stadium in Sao Paulo. She was hit by a glass bottle that was thrown during the brawl, which cut her neck. 

She was taken to a medical center to address her injuries. However, the extent of the injury was so severe that she died two days later after suffering from two heart attacks. 

"Thanks to everyone who prayed for my sister, but she went to live with our Father in heaven," her brother, Felipe Anelli, said on Instagram.

Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) President Ednaldo Rodrigues said that every game from here on of the Brazilian championship will observe a minute of silence to commemorate her death. 

"Football is passion and not a space for the action of criminals infiltrating the fans to practice all kinds of violence," he said in a statement, adding that the CBF was working with the federal government to fight against fan violence. 

"We cannot accept that a 23-year-old girl should be the victim of barbarism in an environment that should be one of entertainment. We express our solidarity with the family of the Palmeiras girl and demand a speedy investigation into this crime," Palmeiras said on social media.

"On an occasion that should have been a purely sporting dispute, a young woman lost her life in a barbaric and unjustifiable manner that deserves to be punished with rigor," Flamengo posted on Twitter.

During the clash last Saturday, fans also attacked police officers with glass bottles. The officers, in turn, used pepper spray to try to quell the situation. However, the pepper spray seeped into the station and irritated the players’ eyes and noses, leading the referee to stop the game twice during the first half of the match. 

The individual responsible for throwing the bottle that injured Anelli, identified as Leonardo Santiago, 26, was arrested and will be charged with intentional homicide, according to a spokesperson for the Department of Strategic Police Operations.