Ernesto Lucena was not heard by Conmebol. The governing body of South American football refused the request of Colombia’s sports minister, who wanted the postponement of a Copa America that his country is co-organizing with Argentina from June 13. And decided to relocate the tournament matches planned on Colombian soil. “At the moment, the inability to count with the public means that the Copa is not the event we all dream of“, said in a message to the media Mr. Lucena, whose country is shaken by violent protests which add to a worsening of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The minister proposed that this continental championship be postponed “at the end of the year“. “We ask that Colombia, just like Argentina, be given a deadline that will allow this event to be carried out in the best possible way with supporters in the stadiums.“, added the Minister.
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But the Conmebol, the governing body of South American football, refused any postponement, and announced that the matches planned in Colombia will take place elsewhere. “For reasons related to the international calendar and tournament logistics, it is impossible to postpone the 2021 Copa América to November“, explained the Conmebol in a press release. The places where the matches initially planned in Colombia will be moved will be announced later, she added.
Protests and Covid
Since April 28, demonstrations against the government, harshly repressed by the security forces, have shaken Colombia. They left at least 42 dead, including a police officer, and more than 1,700 injured. Bogota, Medellin and Cali, among the cities where the matches were to be played, were the scene of violent disturbances. Copa Libertadores and Sudamericana matches had to be moved elsewhere in the country, even to Paraguay. Last week, the meeting between clubs America and Brazil’s Atletico Mineiro, in Baranquilla, was suspended five times because of tear gas used to disperse protesters near the stadium where the match took place.
The Colombian government has however assured that these demonstrations were not at the origin of its decision to request a postponement, but rather the need to have the public in the stadiums. In addition to these protests, Colombia is also suffering a third wave of the Covid-19 epidemic with daily record figures of contaminations and deaths. The Copa América is the oldest continental tournament in the history of football, the most important organized by the Conmebol and one of the most watched sporting events in the world. The 2021 edition was to be co-hosted by two countries for the first time.
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