Former Celtic Player Emilio Izaguirre Among 10 Injured as 3 Die in Honduras Derby Riots
Clashes between rival fans in Honduras left three people dead and ten injured, with former Celtic player Emilio Izaguirre hurt in the violence.
Fans of the Olimpia and Motagua football teams, bitter local opponents, rioted outside Tegucigalpa’s National Stadium before the 'Honduran Superclásico'.
The riots were sparked on Saturday night ahead of the clash, after a crowd of people believed to be rival supporters intercepted and vandalised the bus transporting Motagua players – injuring three members of the squad, including Izaguirre.
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BBC Sport report that Izaguirre, a left-back for Motagua, was one of those injured – and the former Celtic man later shared an image of himself with his left eye patched, claiming that it had been hurt by shards of glass.
In a post on his Instagram story, the 33-year-old said it was 'painful' to think of those who died in the clashes, but reassured fans that his injuries were nothing serious, adding that 'the danger is over'.
Due to the violence, the fixture between the rivals was postponed as the police tried to tackle down the rioters with tear gas. Motagua have blamed members of the Ultra-Faithful Olimpia fan club for the rioting and vandalism.
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Izaguirre started his career at the Honduran club before moving to Celtic in 2010, where he was part of one of the Glasgow side's most dominant periods in Scottish football, winning seven SPFL titles alongside seven other Scottish domestic trophies.
He had a short spell with Al-Fayha in Saudi Arabia before returning to Celtic for one last campaign last year, after which he moved back on a free transfer to his home country to play with Motagua once again.
