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Putting aside the actual final between Argentina and Colombia, the Copa America Final was an unmitigated disaster due to the lack of planning and preparedness by CONMEBOL. Sunday’s 8 p.m. kickoff was meant to cap off a fantastic “summer of soccer” after the European Championship. Instead, ticketed and ticketless fans barged through the doors at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium before the game, thus delaying the kickoff time by 82 minutes.
That game took a back seat to the events that happened before the game, with pictures and videos showing distressing scenes of fans entering the stadium and nearly trampling over other people in attendance.
The onus for the issue falls on CONMEBOL, the governing body of South American soccer that organizes the Copa America. CONMEBOL is responsible for organizing the event, including its security measures and crowd control.
How were fans without tickets able to get to the stadium gates?
On Sunday, CONMEBOL once again pointed the finger at fans. Similarly, Miami-Dade Police blamed the fans for the delay. “These incidents have been a result of the unruly behavior of fans trying to access the stadium,” read a statement.
While the ticketless fans are certainly at fault for causing a chaotic situation, how were fans without tickets able to get to the stadium gates? Where were the checkpoint perimeters around the stadium to make sure only ticketed fans were allowed near the gates? CONMEBOL must bear responsibility for allowing the ticketless fans near the stadium.
No doubt, there was a complete lack of organization from CONMEBOL in and around the stadium. Furthermore, the event was understaffed for a major sports final where you had two of the most supported teams in South Florida facing each other. CONMEBOL knew this ahead of the final but said beforehand that they would not increase security for the game.
CONMEBOL’s security policies have been a point of contention recently. Only days prior, Uruguay…
Source link : https://worldsoccertalk.com/copa-america/conmebol-to-blame-for-copa-america-chaos-not-ticketless-fans/
Author : Kyle Fansler
Publish date : 2024-07-15 16:01:24
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