The Copa América final between Argentina and Colombia was meant to be Miami’s dress rehearsal for the World Cup football tournament in the United States. Hours before kick off, it collapsed into chaos.
Gate crashers stormed Hard Rock Stadium in waves at multiple points Sunday night, climbing over steel fences, shimmying into breached ventilation ducts and rushing stadium access doors. Then, police and security locked the venue down, leaving throngs of anguished fans with tickets in a crush outside as the minutes before kickoff counted down.
“This is a tragedy; no, it’s utter chaos,” said Fernando Ugarte, 67, who’d travelled to Miami from Buenos Aires with his family, paying US$4,700 per ticket. He stood outside the stadium after trying to push his way through the mob, only to be forced back as police in riot gear slammed shut the steel barriers. “I don’t know how they expect to pull off the World Cup because they clearly don’t know how to organise anything.”
The disturbances were an ugly culmination to a Copa América tournament already marred by low attendance, a disappointing performance by the host country’s team and fights in the stands. The football tournament, which is usually held in South America, was meant to be a showcase for the World Cup, which will be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada in 2026. Hard Rock is set to host seven matches.
On Sunday night, match organisers delayed kick-off for one hour and 15 minutes as stadium staff, reinforced with riot police, began to let fans in. But they slammed shut barriers again and again, as fans dressed in Colombia and Argentine shirts rushed the gates.
Hard Rock Stadium said in a statement that it more than doubled normal personnel to prepare for the match but had to shut gates to prevent “stampedes and serious injury” after unruly fans tried to overpower security. After reopening gates briefly, access was closed again because the stadium was filled to capacity, even though people with tickets were still outside, according to the statement.
CONMEBOL, the South American soccer association that organises Copa América, had said on X before the match that “fans MUST” have tickets to enter the stadium and that no watch parties would be allowed in the parking lots.
Minutes before the match was set to begin, Santiago Giraldo was stuck outside with his wife, despondent. They had flown in to see the game from Colombia at great expense and rushed to the stadium, only to be blocked from getting inside.
“I go to games in Colombia all the time, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said. “Clearly, America’s not ready for the World Cup.”
As the minutes ticked by, thousands of people massed outside, some with tickets that cost thousands of dollars, resigned to watch play on a giant screen above the stadium’s south gate.
Argentina went on to beat Colombia in overtime, 1-0. Outside, a police officer, when asked what was going on, said: “It’s chaos, pure chaos.”
by Michael Smith, Bloomberg
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