Colombian soccer boss Ramon Jesurún among 27 arrested during Copa America final crowd chaos

Colombia’s soccer federation president and his son were among the 27 people who were arrested during the crowd control issues that broke out at the Copa America final between Argentina and Colombia, according to police.

Ramón Jesurún and his son Ramon Jamil Jesurún were detained after the event at Hard Rock Stadium and charged, Miami-Dade police detective Andre Martin told The Associated Press.

Both men are facing three counts of felony battery on an official after being accused of fighting multiple stadium security guards. 

Arrest records said both men tried to go onto the field through a tunnel where media was gathering after the match. 

They were stopped by security, and the police report said they “became irate” at the delay. 

A verbal altercation eventually turned physical, with a guard placing an “open palm” on Ramon Jamil Jesurun’s chest to “guide him back” and the younger Jesurún grabbing the guard “around his neck” and pulling him to the ground before throwing “two punches that impacted” the guard, the report said. 

The two men were taken into custody after midnight.

Colombia’s soccer federation did not immediately respond on Monday to a request for comment.

Ramón Jesurún, 71, has been president of the Colombian soccer federation since 2015 and he is a vice-president of CONMEBOL, South American soccer’s governing body that organises the Copa America tournament.

In a statement released on Monday, the organisation said it regretted the scene in which countless fans entered the stadium without tickets and “tarnished” the event. 

The game was delayed for more than an hour as authorities worked to control the situation. They eventually decided to let some fans in without going through security checkpoints.

“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,” the organisation said. 

“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.”

Hard Rock Stadium — the site of 2026 World Cup matches — said security was a shared responsibility among its stadium officials, the organisation, CONCACAF (the governing body that oversees soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean) and local police.

“More than double the personnel” used for a typical event were onsite on Sunday, a stadium spokesperson said in a statement.

Photographs of distressed fans are circulating after thousands without tickets tried to enter the Copa America final.(AP: Lynne Sladky)

Miami-Dade police said more than 800 law enforcement officers were at the match. In addition to the arrests, 55 people were ejected, they said.

Fans distressed and stadium damaged

It was a chaotic scene just hours before the scheduled 8pm local start time of the championship match between the two South American countries. 

Fans forced their way in and jumped over security railings and ran past police officers and stadium attendants, some appearing hysterical as they searched for the people they arrived with.

There appeared to be significant damage to the venue as a result. Video and images posted to social media showed the shattered side railings of an escalator inside the stadium, with shoes, soft drink cans, reading glasses and articles of clothing left behind. 

Security railings at a checkpoint in the south-west entrance to the stadium were bent over as thousands of people, including crying children, pushed against them.

The Hard Rock Stadium statement said stadium officials communicated with tournament organisers at about 8pm, local time, and decided to open the gates to both ticketed and unticketed fans who were thrust against the entrance in fear of stampedes and serious injuries. The gates were then closed with many ticketed fans left outside.

The stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, which is home to the NFL’s Dolphins, will be the site of seven World Cup matches in 2026, including a quarterfinal and third-place match.

Thousands of fans rushed the gates before the Copa America final.(USA TODAY Sports via AP: Nathan Ray Seebeck)

FIFA organises the World Cup and is a different organisation from CONMEBOL. FIFA is an international federation that oversees more than 200 affiliated associations under regional bodies like CONMEBOL.

Ramón Jesurún is also a member of the FIFA Council.

FIFA did not immediately respond Monday to the AP’s request for comment on the crowd control issues and how it would prevent similar problems in 2026.

Lawyer says officials should have learned from England-Italy match chaos

Attorney Steve Adelman, a crowd control expert and vice president of the Event Safety Alliance, said Hard Rock organisers failed to understand that Sunday’s game would bring out passionate fans desperate to see their teams, some willing to force their way inside.

“A match between fans of two rival South American nations is about as passionate as you’re going to get,” he said.

Mr Adelman said organisers should have learned from the 2021 European Championship final at London’s Wembley Stadium, where ticketless England fans forced their way inside for their team’s match with Italy. 

The melee injured 19 police officers and resulted in 53 arrests. 

“Unfortunately, international soccer matches have been marked by this sort of aggressive supporter behaviour,” Mr Adelman said. 

“This behaviour is not desirable, it’s not good, but it is reasonably foreseeable … They needed to plan for the crowd they were likely to have, not the crowd they wished they had.”

AP

Editor’s note (16/7/24): An earlier version of this story contained incorrect information provided by the Associated Press news agency that referenced a 1989 crush at an English soccer match as being the result of fans forcing their way into the stadium. In 2016, an inquest into the Hillsborough tragedy found the victims of the crush had been unlawfully killed and that fan behaviour had not contributed to the tragedy.

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Publish date : 2024-07-15 23:20:15

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