Venezuela on Wednesday accused Peru of “sequestration” of its national football team after Lima refused to provide fuel for the team’s return plane, a few hours after “Vinotinto” players denounced violence of the police after the draw (1-1) between the two countries in the race for the 2026 World Cup.
“The Peruvian government is committing a new arbitrary act against Venezuelans by preventing the plane bringing the team back from refueling for its flight,” Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil wrote in a message on the social network X. “It’s sequestration to take revenge on our team which played an extraordinary match” at the National Stadium in Lima, according to Caracas. Peruvian airport authorities have denied this version, arguing “technical problems occurring at airports” and refuting any “problem of migration or of the (Peruvian) State”.
The plane should leave Lima around 11:30 a.m. local time (4:30 p.m. GMT), it was added.
This protest from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs comes hours after Venezuelan players said they had been attacked by Peruvian police responsible for stadium security. “They hit me,” said Nahuel Ferraresi, the central defender of São Paulo, via his Federation media, while showing bandages on the index and ring fingers of his right hand.
“These are things that shouldn’t happen. The match ended and we went to thank the Venezuelan supporters (in the stands). Salomon Rondon is going to give his jersey and I go behind him and when I go to throw mine, the police stop me,” says the defender. “Then others got angry, I don’t know what happened, and they took out their batons to hit us (…). They hit me twice (…). They hit me twice and broke me a little (two fingers), but it’s not a serious injury,” he added.
Videos that have gone viral on social networks show the players of the selection arguing in a virulent manner with Peruvian police officers, some of whom brandish their batons. After this draw, Peru remains last in the qualifiers, while Venezuela, which has never qualified for a World Cup final phase, is in an unprecedented fourth place.
Before the match, Peruvian police carried out an unusual identity check around the stadium targeting Venezuelans while a decree that came into force last week authorizes the Peruvian government to quickly expel foreigners. This police control sparked strong criticism on social networks.
With 1.5 million Venezuelan immigrants, Peru is one of the countries in the region that receives the most migrants from Venezuela, which is going through a serious economic crisis with an 80% contraction in GDP. This mass emigration has allowed Venezuelan criminal groups to establish themselves in several Latin American countries, sparking hostile reactions to Venezuelans in general.
