Miami-Dade officials say chaos ‘should never have happened’ at Copa America

Copa America fans created chaos at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, ahead of Sunday’s match between Argentina and Colombia.

Many fans without tickets passed security and stadium attendants and lined up for seats. The match started for over an hour late due to crowd of fans.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniela Levin Cava and Chief Public Safety Officer James Reyes criticized the situation in a statement as Argentina and Colombia clashed.

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Their joint statement read, “We are outraged by the unprecedented events of tonight’s Copa America Final. The Copa America Final is organized by CONMEBOL, and the Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) along with other law enforcement agencies are providing security Provides assistance.”

Cava and Reyes said more than 550 officers were assigned to the stadium, and more personnel were brought in from outside Miami-Dade Police’s jurisdiction to help.

He added, “Our top priority must be the safety of all our residents and visitors, and we urge all attendees of tonight’s game to follow all instructions from law enforcement and security personnel for the safety of all attendees.” Do it.” Received a security briefing from officials at the stadium and urged fans to listen to officials.

“Let’s be clear: this situation should never have happened and can never happen again. We will work with stadium leadership to ensure that a full review of tonight’s events occurs immediately so that the full series of events can be assessed , so that the necessary protocols and policies can be put in place and all future games.”

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In the video of the crowd towards the gate, unruly fans are seen running after the security personnel. Other videos showed fans completely destroying the escalators, while others tried to get into the airducts.

A fan named Claudia, who had come to watch the game from Mendoza, Argentina, told The Associated Press that it had become difficult to breathe as police tried to control the chaos.

“They can’t organize the World Cup! It’s impossible,” Claudia told the AP in Spanish. “People were stranded in front of the gate for hours, unable to breathe. There was a senior citizen there, look at him, look at him (pointing to his younger son), left without water. No water, nothing No.”

Argentina and Colombia players were escorted off the field as security tried to control the chaos and were allowed back on at 8:38 p.m. ET.

“It’s hard to explain what happened before the game,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said through an interpreter. “We had players waiting for their family members to come to the stadium, waiting for an hour. We had to start the match without knowing where our family members were. I think Colombia The players were also going through the same thing, it was very strange.”

Hard Rock Stadium said it is “proud to host world-class events in a safe and successful manner year-round.”

The stadium said, “We understand that there are disappointed ticket holders who were not able to enter the stadium following the perimeter closure and we will work in partnership with CONMEBOL to address those individual concerns.” “Ultimately, nothing is more important than the health and safety of all guests and staff, and that will always be our priority.

“We will continue to work with law enforcement to identify and hold accountable the perpetrators who engaged in illegal conduct tonight. It is disappointing that a night of celebration was marred by illegal and unsafe behavior, and we will continue to work with them tonight to further enhance our procedures and protocols.” Will thoroughly review.” “And work with law enforcement to ensure that such an incident never happens again.”

Many fans were allowed to enter the stadium without tickets, while those who had tickets were not allowed to enter the stadium.

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Argentina won the match 1–0 in the 112th minute of extra time.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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