Millions of people reportedly took to the streets of Buenos Aires when the Argentine national team underwent a parade celebrating the 2022 World Cup. Initially, Lionel Messi and friends took an open bus to go around the capital city while showing off the 2022 World Cup trophy. However, the Argentine national team players were forced to continue the champion World Cup 2022 parade by helicopter. This is because open buses cannot penetrate the sea of people in Buenos Aires.
The 2022 World Cup champions parade for the Argentina national team in Buenos Aires took place on Tuesday (20/12/2022) afternoon local time. The parade route initially start from the headquarters of the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) and will end at the Obelisco Monument. However, AFA was forced to change the parade route because the streets around the Obelisco Monument were already packed with millions of people.
Quoted from Goal and Marca, the number of Argentines who took to the streets of Buenos Aires to welcome Lionel Messi et al reached around 3-5 million people. After nearly four and a half hours of travel, the open bus for the Argentina national team could only cover a distance of about 15 kilometers. The open bus for the Argentina national team then turned around on Larrazabal Street.
Lionel Messi and friends were forced to change their parade route because two fans jumped from a bridge or flyover. The two fans raced to get on the open bus for the Argentina national team. Unfortunately, only one fan managed to land on the open bus for the Argentina national team. One other fan fell on the tarmac because when he jumped, the open bus for the Argentina national team had crossed a flyover.
Quoted from Marca, around 31 people were injured in the parade celebrating the champion of the Argentine national team. That’s what made the AFA and the Argentina national team stop the parade with an open bus. The Argentina national team players were then “forced” to continue the parade by helicopter for security reasons.
Regarding the changes during the parade, Chiqui Tapia as President of AFA apologized to the fans. Chiqui Tapia said that the change to the route for the Argentina national team champion parade had to be made for the safety reasons of fans and players.
“They didn’t let us greet everyone who had gathered at the Obelisco Monument. The security guard who escorted us did not allow us to move forward. We say a thousand apologies on behalf of all the players,” said Tapia. The same thing is also written in the official release of AFA.
“The players of the Argentina national team ended the triumph of the champions parade by flying in a helicopter over the crowd of fans gathered in Buenos Aires. They made the decision after verifying that the players could not continue their journey on the bus in a crowd,” the AFA said in a statement.
The success of Lionel Messi et al in winning the 2022 World Cup in Qatar is indeed very meaningful for the Argentine public. This is because the Argentine national team has never won the World Cup for more than 30 years or since 1986. Not only that, Argentina is currently also facing an economic crisis.
