Boca Juniors kicked out of Copa Libertadores

Boca Juniors were kicked out of the remainder of this year’s Copa Libertadores competition as punishment for its fans spraying a caustic substance on an opposing team in a tournament game.

The announcement came after the governing body of CONMEBOL, the South American football federation, met privately to discuss punishment for the Argentine team over the Thursday night incident in game against bitter rival River Plate.

The body ruled only that Boca will have to play its next four home international matches without fans in the stands. The team also will not be able to sell its fans tickets for its next four away games and it was fined $200,000.

“We have to meet the requirements of FIFA,” said CONMEBOL’s secretary general Jose Luis Meiszner. “There will be severity in the penalties.”

The governing body’s ruling meant that River Plate will advance to the quarter-finals of the Copa Libertadores.

The second-leg match in the round-of-16 on Thursday was stopped when River Plate players were sprayed with a caustic substance as they took the field for the second half. Many rubbed their eyes or doused them with water to clear their vision.

River had won the first leg 1-0 last week, and Thursday’s match was 0-0 when it was suspended in front of about 50,000 fans before the second half could begin.