Mexico City /
The members of a Senate Commission in Brazil investigating the management of the coronavirus pandemic said the America Cup should not be held in the middle of second deadliest outbreak in the world and that has to be postponed.
The Conmebol decided last Monday to hold the event in Brazil after suspending it in Argentina and Colombia, who were to be co-hosts.
Argentina faces a fierce second wave of infections and deaths from coronavirus, while Colombia -which was decommissioned as headquarters days ago- drags weeks of protests that have the Government in check.
The president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, announced that his nation will host all 28 games between the June 13 and July 10. More than 472,000 people have died from the virus in Brazil, more than anywhere outside of USA.
In a letter to the nation’s soccer team, members of the Senate committee said that Brazil had vaccinated only 10.77% of the population until Friday with the first doses.
“Brazil does not offer health security for an international tournament of this magnitude. In addition to transmitting a false sense of security and normality, in the face of the reality that Brazilians live, it would encourage crowds of people and set a bad example, “the letter said.
“We are not against America Cup in Brazil or anywhere else. But we think the tournament can wait until the country is ready to host it. “
Brazilian players don’t want to play
Casemiro, captain of the Brazilian team, said the players would issue a statement on Tuesday on whether or not they want to compete in the Copa América. He also stated that any decision would be made jointly between the players and the coach.
Brazilian media claim that players do not want to play in a hastily organized tournament that will start in a week while they are busy with qualifying for the world.
Brazil has won all five of its qualifiers so far and is in first place of the 10-team South American pool for Qatar 2022.
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