Against all expectations, the organization of the Copa America, which begins in 14 days, was allocated to Brazil after the withdrawals of the Argentine and Colombian co-organizers for health reasons. But under a shower of criticism, the government announced Monday evening that nothing was final yet. Confusion reigns.
While the Conmebol had announced that the tournament would take place, as in 2019, in Brazil, a prominent member of the government assured to everyone’s surprise that “there is still nothing stopped”. “There is nothing fixed for the moment, I want to make it very clear. We are in the middle of the process. But we are not going to shy away from this request if it is possible to respond to it, ”said government secretary Luiz Eduardo Ramos in Brasília. He even set out conditions: total closed session as well as restricted and all vaccinated delegations. According to him, a “final position” would be taken “Tuesday”.
Earlier, the Brazilian vice-president Hamilton Mourao had however justified a choice which involves “less risk”. “The advantage is the size of our country and the number of stadiums. We can distribute the matches over the whole territory, he said.
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Avalanche of criticism
According to the president of Conmebol, Alejandro Dominguez, Brazil “has the proven infrastructure and the accumulated and recent experience”, with the 2014 World Cup and the 2019 Copa América, “to organize a competition of this magnitude”.
But during the day an avalanche of criticism came to fall from epidemiologists, believing that the tournament “will contribute to the resurgence of the pandemic”, and members of the opposition announcing wanting to seize the Supreme Court to make cancel the tournament, whose host cities have not yet been defined.
“Argentina refused the Copa América due to the worsening pandemic. There the average number of deaths in the last seven days has been 470 people… Here it has been 1844. FOUR TIMES MORE. This is what a murderous government looks like, ”reacted Marcelo Freixo, opposition deputy of the Socialism and Freedom Party (left) on Twitter.
Argentina turned down the Copa America because of the worsening pandemic. There, the moving average of deaths in the last seven days was 470 people… Here, it’s 1,844. FOUR TIMES LARGE. This is the picture of a murderous government.
— Marcelo Freixo (@MarceloFreixo) May 31, 2021
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“Prevented”
Initially, the Copa América was to be played a year earlier, co-hosted for the first time by two countries, Colombia and Argentina, before being postponed by the pandemic. But Bogotá brandished the Covid-19 card to hide the social rebellion in the country and ten days ago asked for a postponement of the competition that was refused by Conmebol.
Then Buenos Aires gave up on Monday to host the competition alone (June 13-July 10) because “the epidemiological situation prevented us from doing so”, explained the head of the Argentine government, Santiago Cafiero while the country beats daily contamination records. “We worked with the Conmebol authorities on the different possibilities and scenarios. But (this) goes beyond the organization of the tournament and (it is) linked to the increase in cases, with the way in which the second wave of infections continues to strike, ”explained Santiago Cafiero.
Argentina, yet crazy about football and passionate about the exploits of its national team led by its superstar Lionel Messi, still in search of a first international trophy, is going through the most critical period of the pandemic with more than 41,000 people infected in 24 hours Thursday, a record.
The players go to the front
In this context, 70% of Argentines said they were against the organization of the Copa América, according to a poll published on Friday, even if the authorities had planned to put in place a strict health protocol, in particular by limiting the size of the ten delegations.
Some players, and not the least, are starting to question the relevance of holding the tournament. “I am struck by the fact that the Copa América is being played despite the current situation,” said Luis Suarez, just crowned Spanish champion with Atlético Madrid, back in Uruguay to play two matches on June 3 and 8. qualification for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. His compatriot Edinson Cavani (Manchester United) pointed out “a terrible irresponsibility” while his captain Diego Godin asked for “guarantees and peace of mind for all” participants.
Brazil has the second-deadliest death toll in the world after the United States, and only 11% of the population has received two doses of the vaccine.
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