GO DEEPER
How Uruguay vs Colombia descended into chaos – and the questions raised by the ugly scenes
An official with the Uruguayan federation, Marcelo García, was banned from CONMEBOL competitions for six months. García was seen on video throwing a water bottle at Colombian fans from his vantage point in a suite.
In the days following the violent incident, many Uruguayan players expressed their concerns with the lack of security surrounding that match, concerns that were affirmed during the Copa America final in Miami, which faced widespread problems with overcrowding and security issues.
Uruguay head coach Marcelo Bielsa was among the tournament’s fiercest critics, expressing indignance at the suggestion his players should be sanctioned for their actions.
“The only thing I can tell you is that the players reacted like any other human being would,” he said.
“If you see that there’s a process to keep what happened from happening. If you see that if what happened happens anyways, and that there’s supposedly another process — an escape hatch, let’s say — and both things fail, and you see your woman, or your mother, or a baby, being attacked, what would you do? You’d ask whether they’re going to punish the people who defended themselves?”
Nunez will now miss his country’s 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Paraguay, Venezuela, Peru and Ecuador.
(Buda Mendes/Getty Images)
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Publish date : 2024-08-28 02:54:00
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