Between a rock and a hard place: Copa America ends in chaos as fans storm Miami stadium

July 15 – Argentina retained the Copa America with a 1-0 win over Colombia on Sunday but the showpiece finale was overshadowed by yet more organisational issues that from the start beset the tournament in the United States – joint hosts of the next World Cup.

A goal by Lautaro Martinez after 112 minutes separated the sides with Lionel Messi forced to watch much of the second half and extra time because of a leg injury. But the final in Florida was delayed more than an hour because of crowd problems, including fans breaching security gates.

Hours before kick-off, fans broke through the gates at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, one of the host venues for the 2026 World Cup. Video posted on social media showed fans jumping over security railings and rushing past police officers and stewards.

Authorities responded by reportedly closing all stadium gates which left many ticketed fans unable to get in and left in sweltering heat and humidity. People could be seen receiving medical treatment and asking for water.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and chief public safety officer James Reyes released a statement during the game saying the county assigned more than 550 police officers to the game.

“Let’s be clear: This situation should have never taken place and cannot happen again,” read the statement. “We will work with stadium leadership to ensure that a full review of tonight’s events takes place immediately to evaluate the full chain of events, in order to put in place needed protocols and policies for all future games.”

“It is tough to explain what happened before the game,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said through an interpreter afterwards. “We had players waiting for their family members to get into the stadium, waiting for an hour. We had to start a match without knowing where our family members were. I think the players for Colombia were going through the same thing. It was very weird.”

Hard Rock Stadium issued a…

Source link : https://www.insideworldfootball.com/2024/07/15/rock-hard-place-copa-america-ends-chaos-fans-storm-miami-stadium/

Author : Paul Nicholson

Publish date : 2024-07-15 09:10:20

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