Why CONMEBOL deserves blame for the organizational failure of the Copa America; what’s next for America’s World Cup stadiums

The 2024 Copa America in the United States has been plagued by one organizational failure after another, culminating in security issues at Hard Rock Stadium during Sunday’s final between Argentina and Colombia when officials failed to interact with fans without tickets who had violated security checks before the (delayed) start of the match.

The chaos in Miami Gardens on Sunday came just days after Uruguay players started a brawl with Colombia fans in the stands after their semi-final at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium, and after a long series of complaints to tournament organizers. The long list of complaints includes poor pitches, disorganization in accredited media areas and high ticket prices, which left several stadiums with empty seats despite hosting one of the biggest football events in the world.

The chaos forces questions about who is responsible for this disorganization, and while the answer is not clear-cut, some things are clearer than others. CONMEBOL, South American football’s governing body, bears much of the responsibility, as tournament organizers are typically tasked with ensuring everything runs smoothly – including security. However, CONMEBOL has issued a statement pointing the finger at the Hard Rock Stadium:

“In this situation, CONMEBOL was subject to the decisions of the authorities of the Hard Rock Stadium, in accordance with the contractual responsibilities established for security operations. In addition to the preparations established in this contract, CONMEBOL recommended to these authorities the procedures proven events of this magnitude were not taken into account.”

While some lessons can be learned in time for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the US, such an event is unlikely to be repeated in two years.

Here’s an explanation of the Copa America chaos, and a look at who might be responsible for the dysfunction.

Copa America last nightmare

Swarms of ticketless fans were able to show up at the entrance gates of Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday, something that is not the case at FIFA-sanctioned tournaments and other high-profile football events, including the UEFA European Championship and even Premier League matches. At those events, there are usually several checkpoints that fans must pass through before even showing up at the gate, weeding out anyone without a ticket.

Those checkpoints would take place in the vicinity of a stadium, something that Hard Rock Stadium – and most major American stadiums – does not lack with large parking lots around the venue. The responsibility for setting up these checkpoints would lie with the organizers, who did not do so at several Copa America locations.

Ticketless fans initially rushed through the gates and evaded ticket checks. That’s why officials opted to close the gates almost as soon as they opened and keep them closed for about an hour and a half. However, despite CONMEBOL’s claims that stadium officials were responsible, it is unclear who made that call: CONMEBOL personnel were on site and had a say, as were Hard Rock Stadium personnel and officials from the Miami-Dade Police Department. Employees of Concacaf, North American soccer’s governing body, were also reportedly at Hard Rock Stadium, but a spokesperson denied they had anything to do with organizing the event.

The same goes for the decision to let fans in without checking tickets, only to check them later once everyone had entered the stadium. The official word is that the decision not to check the tickets was made to avoid further chaos, but again, it is unknown who made that call.

In addition to the pre-match chaos, it is worth pointing out that Ramon Jesurun, the president of the Colombian federation, and his son Ramon Jamil Jesurun were arrested by Miami-Dade police hours after his national team lost to Argentina in the Copa America. final due to an incident in the stadium. Jesurun faces three criminal charges involving the prosecution of a specific official or employee.

A fight in Charlotte

On Wednesday, Uruguayan players ventured into the stands shortly after their semi-final defeat to Colombia, where they had to battle a group of opposition supporters close to the pitch. Players like Darwin Nunez were seen throwing punches, while others were seen throwing objects during the brawl. CONMEBOL opened an investigation but has since made no comment or imposed a penalty ahead of Uruguay’s third-place finish against Canada.

Jose Maria Gimenez of Uruguay said they were involved in the fight because the Colombian fans were harassing the players’ loved ones, who were also in that section. Gimenez said there was “not a single police officer” in that section to protect the family members, highlighting one of the biggest security concerns during the Copa America.

Ensuring security to protect players, families and fans is a joint effort between tournament organizers and local officials, but CONMEBOL should also bear significant responsibility for this.

US Soccer’s responsibility – or lack thereof

The tournament was held on US soil for the first time since 2016, when the Copa America went off without incident – ​​like many other major sporting events in the country. There are many reasons why this year’s Copa America was different from the last.

First, organizers had more time to plan the 2016 event than the 2024 version. The US won the rights to host the Copa America Centenario, a one-off event to celebrate the competition’s 100th anniversary, in May 2014, two years before the competitions started. This time, Ecuador was originally scheduled to host the competition as part of CONMEBOL’s regular gastronomy, but the country declined to do so in November 2022 due to infrastructural issues. The US subsequently expressed interest in hosting the Copa America and won the rights in January 2023, less than a year and a half before the tournament started.

The decision to bring the tournament back to the US also came with a major organizational change. The 2015 FIFA corruption case, in which fourteen people were later charged in connection with an investigation by the FBI and the Criminal Investigation Division of the IRS, jeopardized the 2016 Copa America from an operational perspective. according to ESPN. Several officials from both CONMEBOL and Concacaf were arrested amid a conspiracy between executives from both confederations, and so US Soccer – along with Soccer United Marketing, or SUM, the marketing arm of Major League Soccer – chose to assume the financial and organizational risk taking care of organizing the tournament, including overhead costs.

US Soccer eventually signed favorable contracts with CONMEBOL, earning approximately $75 million in the process. CONMEBOL officials did not want to part with that kind of money upon their return to the US this year and so opted to take on the financial and organizational obligations, paying US Soccer $10 million to essentially sanction the event. US Soccer will also collect 5% of ticket sales and is expected to earn between $20 and $25 million during this summer’s Copa America.

As a result, US Soccer has little to nothing to do with the Copa America from an organizational perspective.

What about the 2026 World Cup?

As tournament organizer, FIFA will take charge of the event in 2026, as is usually the case with World Cups and other tournaments they sanction. It is expected that American football will once again not play a major role in World Cup operations. The past editions of the World Cup have gone smoothly and it is expected that the 2026 edition will follow that trend.

The biggest concerns might center around stadium officials and police, especially if they had much of the responsibility for closing the gates on Sunday and forcing thousands of fans to wait in cramped quarters on a hot and humid day at Miami Gardens . FIFA’s standard practice of having multiple security checks before fans can even approach the stadium gate should prevent a repeat of Sunday’s events.