“Conmebol informs that in view of the present circumstances it has decided to suspend the organization of the Copa América in Argentina. Conmebol analyzes the offer of other countries that showed interest in hosting the continental tournament. News in this regard will be announced shortly ”. Through a statement on its Twitter account, the South American Confederation announced that the continental contest will not take place in Argentine territory.
The announcement was made moments after Pedro Wado, Minister of the Interior of the Nation, indicated that “it is very difficult for the Copa América to be played in Argentina under these conditions” during an interview with the channel C5N. Last week, the National Government received Alejandro Domínguez, head of Conmebol, to advance in the full organization of the contest, after Colombia was separated after requesting a postponement of the tournament due to the social unrest in the country. There, they had deepened in the protocols before the second wave of coronavirus, remaining to decide if there was a full agreement, with a definition deadline set for this Tuesday, June 1.
Anyway, Gonzalo belloso, Deputy Secretary of Conmebol, had anticipated on radio Network that contemplated as plan B the possibility that Chile assumed the organization of the matches that belonged to Colombia. But the events were precipitated in the last hours, despite the fact that the entity that governs football at the continental level had evaluated several Argentine stadiums to add to the menu, such as those of Vélez and Estudiantes de La Plata.
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In the absence of agreement, Chile’s shares grow, which had shown a swift action plan to make itself available to Conmebol. It could even offer a percentage of the audience, something that from a television point of view would add to the show. At the time, As soon as the Colombia option was ruled out, Paraguay (where the Confederation has its headquarters) and Uruguay had appeared as alternatives. The interest of the United States was also mentioned, but for the moment it is a place outside the race.
The departure of Argentina from the organization will force a profound change in logistics not only of the tournament, which It will be played between June 13 and July 10, but also from the schools. The selected Albiceleste, for example, has his armed base in the Ezeiza property, where he set up a “bubble city” for almost 100 people, thinking that the bulk of the competition would take place in the country, something that will not happen.
Argentina was guaranteed to host Group A, made up of Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Bolivia and Uruguay. The opening match was to be played on June 13 at the Monumental. In addition, it had two quarter-finals (one at the Mario Alberto Kempes stadium in Córdoba and another at River Plate’s home), and a semifinal (also in Núñez).
For the country it represented the possibility of returning to host the Copa América after 10 years (the last time was in 2011). Conmebol, for its part, understood that channeling the entire tournament, after the shocks that the pandemic proposed, in a single country with the infrastructure in place, was ideal. But there was no agreement. The tournament will move to another venue to be designated in the next few hours.
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