On Monday, the South American football confederation Conmebol surprisingly announced that Brazil, the country with the second highest number of victims of the pandemic, will hold a South American championship between June 13 and July 17. “I would especially like to thank President Jair Bolsonar and his cabinet for organizing the tournament,” said on his Twitter account, the President of the Confederation, Alejandro Domínguez of Paraguay.
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The tournament, in which ten South American countries are participating, was originally to be organized jointly, for the first time in the 105-year history of the competition, by Argentina and Colombia. However, Colombia lost its organization on May 20, when large-scale protests broke out in the country demanding social and economic reforms. Argentina is currently experiencing a further increase in the number of cases and is tightening measures. Over the weekend, the number of victims in the country climbed to almost 77,000 and Argentina decided not to hold the championship “under the current circumstances”, informs The Guardian.
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The Secretary General of the Football Confederation said that Conmebol had also negotiated with the Chilean government, but the cabinet refused to hold the tournament due to financial demands. However, the announcement of the transfer of the championship to Brazil in the country, which, according to critics of President Jair Bolsonar, caused over 462 thousand victims due to his denial of the seriousness of the situation, caused outrage.
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Brazilian Senator Renan Calheiros, who is leading a parliamentary investigation into the Bolsonar government’s response to the pandemic, called the idea of holding a Copa América “incredible.” Calheiros has called on Brazilian footballers, including the biggest star Neymara, to refuse to enter the tournament “while their relatives and acquaintances continue to die.” “We want to challenge you, Neymar. Disagreement with the Copa América tournament in Brazil. This is not the tournament you need to play now. We have to play the vaccination championship now, “Calheiros is quoted by the DPA.
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Brazilian sports journalist Juca Kfouri called the organization of the tournament in the most affected country on the continent the “Covu Américu”, ie the “Tomb of America”. “There is no reason to bring nine South American teams and potentially new variants of the virus into one of the epicenter of the pandemic and waste resources and attention that should be focused on thousands of our infected patients.” wrote in his text Kfouri.
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However, Ricard Lewandowski, a judge of the Brazilian Supreme Court, also opposed the decision. The judge gave President Bolsonar five days to provide information on the government’s last-minute decision to hold the tournament. Lewandowski’s request was a response to a lawsuit filed by the opposition Workers’ Party, which, given the current situation in Brazil, publicly protested the organization of the tournament.
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However, in an interview with fans, Bolsonaro said that he had consulted with Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga, who agreed that a four-week tournament could take place. “As far as I and all the ministers are concerned, including the Minister of Health, it is decided.” quotes Bolsonara holds Reuters.
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Some players do not agree with the tournament in Brazil either. “Members of the Colombian national team have expressed concern about the change of venue in view of the complicated health situation in Brazil,” the Colombian Football Association said in a statement. “Conmebol’s decision creates uncertainty among footballers not only because of the risk to their health, but also because of the guarantees they require in order for a normal competition to take place,” the statement said. “Human health must take precedence,” said Uruguayan soccer player Luis Suarez, according to The Guardian.
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⚽ The Copa América soccer could move to Brazil after protests in Colombia and the pandemic in Argentina forced co-hosts to be discarded. Brazil is the 2nd country in the world with the most deaths by #covid19 and 3rd with more cases https://t.co/h2dLFpwo4v pic.twitter.com/ZlB8a2g7dU
– Bloomberg Quicktake in Spanish (@Quicktake_EE) June 1, 2021
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The tournament was originally scheduled to take place as the European Football Championship in 2020, but in March last year, Conmebol decided to postpone it to this year. In the end, the invited countries of Qatar and Australia will not participate in the tournament. Ten participants are divided into two groups of five teams, in group A the defending champion of Brazil will face Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. In Group B, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay will compete. According to Bolsonar, the championship will take place without the participation of spectators.
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