“Copa Bolivia Match in Oruro Ends in Disorder as Seventeen Are Sent Off”

Analysis by Hikaru Sakamoto

“Fans were left stunned and furious as an all-out brawl erupted in Bolivia’s Cup — with SEVENTEEN red cards shown and police deploying tear gas to break up the chaos.”

British outlet The Sun also highlighted the shocking scenes, reporting:
“South American cup match descends into mayhem as players and staff clash in a massive post-game fight, leading to an unprecedented 17 dismissals.”

During the Copa Bolivia quarterfinal second leg between Totoral Real Oruro and Blooming, the match ended 2–2 — but what followed was absolute bedlam.

According to local media El Potosí, the chaos began when several Totoral Real Oruro players sparked a violent confrontation near the tunnel leading to the dressing rooms. Police rushed in to contain the situation and reportedly used tear gas to disperse the crowd as the fight spilled from the pitch onto the track.

Official broadcast footage showed Sebastián Ceballos and Julio Villa charging at opponents alongside head coach Marcelo Robledo, escalating the violence rather than calming things down.

Ceballos, initially restrained by Blooming players attempting to defuse the situation, broke free and lunged forward. Villa threw punches, while meters away Robledo was seen squaring up to the opposing coaching staff instead of restoring order.

Around 20 police officers had to intervene to physically separate both sides and prevent the violence from intensifying. El Potosí noted that although the scene briefly calmed, insults and threats continued to fly.

In total, the referee issued 17 red cards to players and staff from both teams — including Blooming’s César Menacho, who had already been sent off earlier for abusive language.

Despite the chaos, Blooming — who won the first leg 2–1 — advanced to the semifinals with a 4–3 aggregate victory.

The Bigger Picture

What left fans stunned wasn’t simply that a Copa Bolivia match descended into chaos. It was how completely it collapsed, and where it happened. The setting was Oruro. At 12,150 feet above sea level, the location alone already felt beyond normal logic for many watching.
“How do you even breathe up there?”
“Who can actually play football in a place like that?”
Those blunt questions filled the comment sections.
That abnormal environment quickly became the backdrop for everything that followed. When the final whistle blew and the brawl erupted, the reaction from fans was less shock and more grim acceptance.
“If it’s after the match, then anything goes.”
That single line captured the mood of the night.
Then the red cards kept coming.
“This is literally a collector’s edition of red cards.”
“Did the referee really pull out all seventeen one by one? His arm must’ve been destroyed.”
As the jokes piled up, reports followed that police had stepped in.
“Twenty police officers intervened.”
But even that number was brushed aside.
“At that point, the red-card count doesn’t even matter anymore.”
From there on, fans stopped treating this as football at all.
“This isn’t football anymore — it’s a new sport.”
“Battle Royale Soccer.”
“Super Smash Bros rules.”
“Pure, 100% football anarchy.”
Tactics and refereeing decisions were irrelevant. Everyone watching witnessed the moment when the very shape of football dissolved right in front of them.

Fan Reactions

• Doing all that chaos at altitude is wild.
• Isn’t Oruro basically like playing on top of a mountain?
• 12,150 feet? How do you even breathe up there?
• Who can even play football at that altitude?
• If they ended up with only a few players left, shouldn’t the match be abandoned?
• Looks like it all kicked off after the final whistle, so anything goes at that point.
• This was basically a collector’s edition red-card night.
• Pretty sure a few of those reds went to the wrong people.
• Bolivia’s national team has had chaos merchants like this too.
• Post-match, the referee can give cards to everyone — players and staff included.
• This belongs right up there with the Hanoi meltdown.
• This isn’t football anymore — it’s a completely new sport.
• These are straight-up Super Smash Bros rules now.
• At that altitude your brain must be doing strange things.
• This is Battle Royale Soccer.
• Did the referee really pull out seventeen red cards one by one? His arm must’ve been exhausted.
• Worse than hooligans, honestly.
• When twenty police officers are involved, the red-card count barely matters.
• Only twenty officers sounds like nothing in a situation like that.
• This is “you need the military” level chaos.
• Imagine this happening in a friendly involving Japan — it could’ve exploded.
• Even with TV cameras rolling, players still threw punches.
• The coach squaring up like he was ready to throw a left hook was unreal.
• This brought back memories of the Indonesia disaster — at least no one died here.

What Remains

“If it’s post-match, the referee can hand cards to everyone.”
That line sums up how completely normal rules seemed to lose meaning.
What sticks are the details: the altitude jokes, the endless red cards, the sense that
“Twenty police officers is nowhere near enough for something like this,”
and the immediate comparison to past disasters.
“This belongs in the same category as the Hanoi meltdown.”
Not as condemnation, but as instant classification — that kind of match.
At the same time, beneath the humor there’s a clear sense of relief.
“At least no one died.”
That single comment pulls everything back to reality. Even while joking and using video game metaphors, fans understand how close this came to something far worse.
In the end, what remains isn’t the scoreline.
Oruro. Seventeen red cards. High-altitude chaos.
Those words alone are enough. No explanation or analysis is needed. The comments themselves already tell the entire story.
This wasn’t just a bad-tempered match. It will be remembered as the night football briefly spun completely out of control — and everyone watching knew they had just witnessed something extraordinary.

【VIDEO】 Chaos erupts in Copa Bolivia — players and staff trade blows in disturbing scenes
https://x.com/BBCMOTD/status/1994004041605763112?s=20