A soccer fan who was stabbed last summer during the CONCACAF Gold Cup at Levi’s Stadium is suing the city of Santa Clara and the San Francisco 49ers, alleging that there wasn’t proper security to prevent someone from bringing a knife into the venue.
On July 2, 2023, Mexico and Qatar faced off in a match at Levi’s Stadium, which is managed by the NFL team. A fight broke out in the stands, and the plaintiff, Emmanuel Diaz Leal Soto, was stabbed near the upper collarbone, police said at the time. A 29-year-old man was arrested several days later at his Sacramento home on suspicion of attempted murder.
In the lawsuit, Soto argues that the game was “high profile,” between two known rivals and that it wasn’t staffed with security accordingly. He argued that his injuries could have been prevented “through reasonable measures,” such as ejecting people “exhibiting drunk or disorderly conduct, throwing or launching objects at other persons, or those persons exhibiting violent conduct/behavior.”
“During the game, fans of both Mexico and Qatar repeatedly taunted and yelled at one another,” the lawsuit said. “Despite the tensions in the stands, and the clear signs of intimidation towards spectators rooting for their respective teams, including Mr. Soto, the Stadium Defendants and/or the Government failed to properly respond or properly address the safety concerns and reasonably intervene to aid Mr. Soto.”
The lawsuit alleges that the stadium also didn’t employ “reasonable technology and/or devices” to prevent a knife, like the one used in the attack, from being brought in.
As a result of the stabbing, the lawsuit said that Soto has suffered from physical pain, emotional suffering, loss of income and medical expenses. He’s looking for more than $35,000 in damages.
The incident raised concerns about security at the stadium last year — especially in light of the upcoming Super Bowl and FIFA World Cup matches, which will be held there in 2026. Some of the scrutiny was on Francine Melendez Hughes, the stadium’s new general manager of operations. Before coming to Levi’s Stadium, Hughes was an executive for the Los Angeles Dodgers and was in charge of stadium security in 2011 when San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow was brutally beaten in the stadium’s parking lot.
A spokesperson for Levi’s Stadium declined to comment on the lawsuit, but last year told The Mercury News that the security team “regularly evaluates our security protocols and are in the process of conducting an internal investigation alongside Santa Clara Police to identify areas for improvement.”
A spokesperson for the city of Santa Clara also declined to comment.
