D’Onofrio on Pepper Spray Incident: “It Was an Attack, and I’d Do It Again”

Ten years after the infamous Superclásico halted by pepper spray at La Bombonera, former River Plate president Rodolfo D’Onofrio has reflected on that night in an in-depth interview with Clarín. He recalled entering the pitch out of instinct after receiving a warning from renowned ophthalmologist Roberto Zaldívar about potential eye damage among his players.

“I went down to protect them—they could have been my sons,” D’Onofrio said. He described finding players like Ponzio, Vangioni, and Maidana with burned shirts and severe eye irritation. He denied widely circulated quotes, such as telling Boca’s coach “I talk to the circus owners, not the monkeys,” calling them fabrications.

D’Onofrio also recounted his interaction with then-Boca president Daniel Angelici and the swift decision to send River’s legal team to Paraguay with medical evidence. “We wouldn’t let them call it fake,” he said.

He firmly stated he would act the same way again: “It was an attack.” D’Onofrio emphasized that the Libertadores title was won through unity and football—not the incident—and concluded: “I defended River with dignity, never seeking an unfair advantage.”