As game goes on, security is actively going into the crowd checking tickets and removing fans. It’s incredibly packed down there. People fanning themselves and parents escorting kids out of the stands. pic.twitter.com/jRNSjIdmg0
— Laken Litman (@LakenLitman) July 15, 2024
Lizzy Becherano, a soccer journalist at the match, posted video that showed a packed stadium with minimal room to maneuver.
“security guards are actively clearing the walk ways in the section in front of the press tribune. During the anthem, the space looked like a complete safety hazard but area has since been dispersed,” Becherano wrote on X.
Keep up with The Post’s coverage of Copa America’s wild final
Fans watch the game from the walkway during the CONMEBOL Copa America 2024 Final match between Argentina and Colombia at Hard Rock Stadium on July 14, 202 Getty Images
Scary images of the chaos outside made their way around social media and showed some fans doing everything possible to thwart stadium security to get into the match, from storming the gates at entrances to climbing walls and climbing through vents.
Earlier in the evening, tried to rush through one of the gates and caused a massive safety risk.
Video by TV Azteca Deportes showed a police officer and security guard helping to lift children out of a mass of people being crushed as other security guards tried to keep people from overrunning them.
Screams could be heard as well during the scary scene.
The hordes of fans then toppled over the barricade as children could be heard and seen crying in fear.
Argentina’s Alexis Mac Allister had to leave the locker room to help family get into the stadium, his mother told TyCSports, and she called the situation “inhumane,” the Miami Herald reported.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni had expressed hope that Sunday’s final would played without incident, especially after a brawl broke out following the semifinals between Argentina and Uruguay after players ran into the stands to protect their families from fans.
A police officer talks to fans in the stands during the Copa America final soccer match between Argentina and Colombia in Miami Gardens. AP
In the lead-up to the final, he pleaded with fans to behave.
“I hope nothing like that happens Sunday, from the bottom of my heart,” Scaloni said. “May the fans of Colombia and Argentina enjoy this event. We will all have friends and family there and don’t want to have to worry if something will happen to them. Those images were like something from 50 years ago and should not be happening.”
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Publish date : 2024-07-14 16:27:00
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