The Copa America remaining between Argentina and Colombia was scheduled to kick off Sunday night at 8 p.m. ET on the Exhausting Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida.
However as 8 p.m. got here and went, the Exhausting Rock remained empty.
The kickoff was delayed–first to eight:30 p.m. ET, then to eight:45 p.m. ET and eventually to 9:15 p.m. ET — attributable to safety lockdowns on the stadium that prevented ticketed followers from coming into.
Round 6 p.m. ET, eyewitness movies from the stadium confirmed followers of each groups, presumed to be ticketless, vaulting the Exhausting Rock’s safety gates in big numbers and dashing the stadium en masse.
To stem the move of un-ticketed entries, the Exhausting Rock shut down all other entrances around the ground, trapping big throngs of followers outdoors within the sweltering South Florida warmth.
“We noticed a number of folks faint as they bought let in, some carried by police over to the medic station, others leaning in on one another as they looked for water,” said The Athletic’s Paul Tenorio. “Some merely discovered a spot to take a seat on the bottom and cry or dump water on themselves.”
That is the Copa America’s second severe safety breach this week. The primary occurred after the semifinal between Uruguay and Colombia when Uruguayan gamers (together with Liverpool striker Darwin Nuñez) jumped into the gang to struggle opposing followers who gave the impression to be threatening their family members.
The 2 incidents may very well be a damning indictment of the US’s potential to host a serious worldwide match. With the World Cup coming to the States in simply two years, severe modifications will have to be made to stadium safety procedures to make sure the security of followers, employees and gamers.
It is very important bear in mind, nevertheless, that almost all of the Copa America was organized by CONMEBOL, South America’s governing soccer federation, and never the U.S.
CONMEBOL selected the facilities, knowingly selecting a number of soccer stadiums whose fields weren’t prepared for soccer surfaces. It additionally selected Miami to host the ultimate regardless of the hazard of the South Florida warmth.
The problem of stadium safety falls on the shoulders of the States; the difficulty of selecting the improper stadiums, together with some, just like the Exhausting Rock, that carry excessive climate threat, falls on CONMEBOL.
Each organizations can have severe inquiries to reply after the disastrous begin of this Copa America remaining.