Fan gangs of Argentine football clubs "are no longer of concern only domestically," according to Leonardo Mindez of CLARIN. They are "one of the top concerns of the Brazilian government in its efforts to hold a World Cup in peace." Meetings between "Brazilian and Argentine officials to gather information and coordinate joint operations began Monday." An Argentine government source said, "One of the possibilities being evaluated is that Argentine 'barras' that are banned from Argentine stadiums will be barred from World Cup stadiums." To do this, "several preliminary measures will have to be taken." The first would be for "all Argentine clubs to turn into the national Security Ministry lists of all fans who are banned from their facilities -- the authorities currently only have lists from teams based in Buenos Aires." Since "many violent fans from Argentina have always proven capable of finding transportation and tickets for World Cup games in whatever parts of the world, this time the proximity to the host country and the possibility of traveling by land could lead to a record presence" (CLARIN, 3/18).
