CONMEBOL acknowledged security lapses during Sunday’s Copa America final in Miami Gardens, Fla., but it placed the blame at the feet of Hard Rock Stadium in a pointed statement released Monday.
Chaos ensued outside of the stadium ahead of Argentina’s 1-0 victory over Colombia in the Copa final as fans without tickets breached security and forced the venue to shut its gates to try and hold them at bay, creating dangerous crushes of people at entrances around the venue.
Eventually, it was decided to allow everyone in to avoid injury and Miami-Dade Police were seen sweeping through the stands to remove people who did not have tickets.
“As it is already known, during the final held in Miami, fans without tickets went to the stadium’s vicinity, which delayed the normal access of people who did have tickets, slowing down the entry and leading to the closure of doors,” said CONMEBOL, South American soccer’s governing body that organized Copa America.
“In this situation, CONMEBOL was subject to the decisions made by the Hard Rock Stadium authorities, according to the contractual responsibilities established for security operations. In addition to the preparations determined in this contract, CONMEBOL recommended to these authorities the procedures proven in events of this magnitude, which were NOT taken into account. We regret that the acts of violence caused by malicious individuals have tarnished a final that was ready to be a great sports celebration.”
Miami-Dade Police said in a statement that 27 arrests were made and 55 people were ejected from the stadium connected to the pregame disorder.
Hard Rock Stadium has not publicly responded to the CONMEBOL statement, but the venue said in an earlier released that it had worked in collaboration with CONMEBOL, CONCACAF and local law enforcement agencies to execute a security plan.
The dramatic scenes that beamed out across the world were condemned by Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, who was “outraged” by what occurred.
“Let’s be clear: This situation should never have taken place and cannot happen again,” she said in a statement. “We will work with stadium leadership to ensure that a full review of tonight’s events takes place immediately to evaluate the full chain of events, in order to put in place needed protocols and policies for all future games.”
It was the second major security failure during the Copa America tournament in the span of five days after Uruguay players went into the stands in Charlotte to defend family members from unruly Colombian fans following their semifinals loss.
The two incidents have raised questions over how prepared the United States will be to host the World Cup in 2026.
Miami is one of the 16 regional cities for the tournament and is set to host seven matches, including the third-place match.