It was yet another tragedy linked to hooliganism in South American football: A young woman died after shards from a glass bottle thrown during a fight between fans sliced her throat.

This time, the culprit was arrested within hours thanks to a facial recognition system implemented in Brazilian stadiums in recent years.

Since July, the use of biometric controls, using fingerprints or facial recognition, have been required by law to boost security in stadiums with over 20,000 seats.

The young fan killed in 2023, Gabriela Anelli, was a fervent supporter of Palmeiras, one of Brazil's leading football clubs, and it was her team who were the first to fully roll out the security measure.

"We know exactly who is in each seat," Oswaldo Basile, the club's internal audit manager, told AFP.

"We c

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