Away team fans in Argentina are, infamously, barred from attending matches in their rivals’ stadiums. However, the 12-year ban could soon come to an end, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) announced on Monday.

The AFA will allow away fans to attend the Copa Argentina duel between Excursionistas and Argentinos Juniors on Wednesday, May 28. If this trial match goes down without a hitch, fans could soon be allowed to attend more away games.

“This is an important day for Argentine football,” said AFA president Claudio Tapia. “Reclaiming Buenos Aires City as a venue for the Copa Argentina is crucial. I want to thank everyone who worked to make it possible.”

Neither side will attend the game strictly as away fans. As with all Copa Argentina games, the clash is set to be played in a neutral venue, San Lorenzo’s Pedro Bidegain stadium. Some provincial governments had allowed this format despite the ban, but it remained strictly forbidden in the capital.

Away fans have been banned from Argentine football since June 2013, when Lanús fan Javier Gerez was killed near the Estadio Único in La Plata, ahead of a game between the Granate and Estudiantes.

The initial decision was made permanent after two Boca Juniors fans were killed outside San Lorenzo’s stadium later that year in a clash between factions of the Xeneize’s barrabrava, one of the violent organized groups in Argentine football.

Tapia was joined in Monday’s announcement by Buenos Aires City government Security Minister Horacio Giménez.

“The City received the proposal. We analyzed it and felt it was solid,” Giménez said at the press conference. “We studied the security measures to get it done and Buenos Aires City mayor Jorge Macri agreed to go ahead with the game.”The last game to be played in these conditions was November 2022’s Trofeo de Campeones playoff between Racing and Tigre, held at Huracán’s stadium.