By Jake Fenner At Hard Rock Stadium In Miami
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Standing along the road into Hard Rock Stadium, a group of people who hoped to evangelize some held up a sign: ‘Hell Awaits: Only Jesus Christ Can Save’. If that’s true, then the Christian Lord and Savior must have abandoned those standing outside the gates before the Copa America Final.
A disastrous scene unfolded as fans attending the showpiece broke through the gates and stormed the stadium. That led to police and security closing the entrances and only letting in a few at a time – allowing the masses to form in a dangerous scene.
It led to media members being tackled, fans passing out in the heat, and eventually – opening the gates periodically to everyone and anyone without checking tickets to avoid the possibility of any further crushing.
Sunday’s final served as the synthesized essence of how poorly this tournament has been run and it is almost completely thanks to CONMEBOL – not the United States as a country – as the South American federation got what it wanted by demanding more control over the event.
Looking at the entire tournament as a whole paints the picture of an embarrassment for the federation – all while serving to ask questions about how prepared the USA is to welcome the world in 2026.
Fans rush the gates before the Copa America Final match between Argentina and Colombia
Fans of Colombia and Argentina try to pass the gate amid massive disturbances
In 2016, the United States held the Copa America Centenario – a spinoff version of the tournament that by all accounts went off without a hitch.
However, there were some issues with the distribution of the revenue that had CONMEBOL feeling spurned.
So, when the 2024 tournament came around the federation decided to have a more controlling role in the championship – and that included having a controlling say in how it was run from the top down.
Most of the organizational issues in this tournament can be pinned directly on them. That ranges from security – or lack thereof, as we saw on Sunday – to ticketing.
All of these have been issues raised throughout various stages of the tournament. It was brought up by coaches and fans equally – all critical, but possibly directing their criticism at the wrong source.
The outrageous ticket prices paid out for these events led to lining CONMEBOL’s pocket – especially when the federation used the uniquely North American concept of ‘dynamic pricing’, which uses algorithms to change prices based on demand.
While that would make sense in theory, it led to some stadiums being at nearly half the capacity, and entire sections of empty seats because tickets were exorbitantly expensive.
Those who did spend hundreds of dollars just to get into the stadium paid most of their money out to CONMEBOL – who, while turning over the selling of tickets to places like SeatGeek and Ticketmaster, still profited the most from offering those tickets up for purchase.
‘Dynamic pricing’ led to sections of empty seats at USA-Bolivia in Dallas at the Copa America
And then there’s the matter of security.
CONMEBOL was given a warning in the run-up to the final when poor handling of the family section in the Colombia-Uruguay semifinal game led to the families of Uruguay players being attacked by rival fans sitting nearby.
That led to players like Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez jumping into the stands and trying to fight off people, before consoling his son on the pitch.
But even with this warning, the federation wholly and completely failed at its job to protect fans and run the final in Miami in an orderly manner.
There are countless measures that could have been taken in order for a smoother process, but CONMEBOL instead locked themselves out – literally and figuratively – by closing the gates to fans and only letting in a few at a time without any pre-emptive ticket checking before they got to the front.
Eventually, everyone holding the gates back realized there was nothing they could do to quell the crowd and just gave up.
‘Stadium officials, CONMEBOL, CONCACAF and law enforcement officers communicated and decided to open stadium gates for a short period of time to all fans to prevent stampedes and serious injury at the perimeter,’ a Hard Rock Stadium spokesperson said.
Fans of Colombia and Argentina try to pass the gate amid disturbances before Sunday’s final
Other clips showed fans climbing up ladders and over walls, into air conditioning vents, and breaking down fences to get inside the stadium by hook or by crook.
Once inside, fans who had bought tickets found people sitting in the seats that they had paid thousands of dollars for. People would not move and security was helpless to provide assistance.
That led to overcrowding of the stadium and people standing in the aisles and exits – creating what would have been a potential disaster if a fire or other mass emergency was brought about.
When some order was restored, police ended up checking tickets inside and kicking people out who did not have them.
Fans abroad might look at this tournament and tell themselves they’ll pass on attending the 2026 World Cup.
But CONMEBOL is more to blame than the United States is. The level of organizational control that they had over operations and logistics damns them.
Fans wait to enter the stadium prior to the Copa America final of Colombia and Argentina
Which brings us to FIFA and what they must learn from CONMEBOL’s mistakes.
Unlike tournaments like the Euros, matches for the World Cup are set to be played – in the United States at least – all at venues of a capacity of 64,000 or higher.
With demand for tickets set to be much higher for the World Cup than the Copa America, FIFA cannot allow itself to fall into the trap of dynamic pricing – or else they may find themselves staring at empty seats like CONMEBOL did in multiple matches in this tournament.
And when it comes to security, FIFA needs to work with local officials who know the venues and let them run the show – something CONMEBOL did not do in Miami on Sunday.
FIFA can host itself a successful tournament in the United States – as they’ve shown three times in the past with the 1994 FIFA World Cup and the 1999 and 2003 Women’s World Cups.
If FIFA and the US Soccer Federation are allowed to have their control over the event, then disasters can avoid being repeated.
That’s thanks to CONMEBOL, who ran a disastrous tournament that showed those two parties what can go wrong – and how they can avoid it come 2026.
Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd
Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group
