Soccer-Police ban club president from grounds for hooligan links

The newly elected president of Argentine club Almirante Brown has been barred from entering football stadiums to see his team due to his "recognised links" with hooligan groups, a Buenos Aires law enforcement agency said on Monday.

Maximiliano Levy was elected as president of the third-tier club on Sunday but the agency set up to prevent violence at sporting events, known as APreViDe, immediately said it would ban him because of his links to a violent Boca Juniors' barra brava, or organised hooligan group.

"We are not going to be complicit with football mafias nor barra bravas nor ex barra bravas who seek to clear themselves through the boards of clubs," said Juan Manuel Lugones, APreViDe's secretary general.

"The fight against the barra brava is everyone's fight."

Levy, 44, was jailed for 88 days in 2013 for protecting Maximiliano Mazzaro, the leader of a Boca Juniors barra brava. Mazzaro, like Levy, is also a fan of Almirante Brown.

Almirante Brown said they would contest Levy's ban but gave no more details.

The club finished last season in seventh place in Argentina's third tier. (Reporting by Ramiro Scandalo, Writing by Andrew Downie; editing by Clare Fallon)

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