Ramón Jesurún, head of Colombia’s soccer federation, and his son each face three counts of battery after an alleged fight with a stadium employee
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The head of the Colombian soccer federation was arrested early Monday at the Miami-area stadium where his nation’s men’s team had just lost to Argentina in the Copa América final.
After an alleged altercation with event security personnel in a tunnel leading to the field, 71-year-old Ramón Jesurún was arrested and charged with three counts of battery on a specified official/employee. Arrest records provided by the Miami-Dade Police Department also showed that Jesurún’s son, Ramón Jamil Jesurún, was detained on the same charges. Both were booked into Miami’s Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center at about 4:20 a.m.
The arrests were made on a tumultuous night at Hard Rock Stadium that saw throngs of people, some with tickets and some without, pack entrances in an attempt to see a highly anticipated match that was eventually won by Argentina, 1-0, in extra time. The start of Sunday’s game was delayed for nearly 90 minutes after event staffers closed gates to cope with what had been an overwhelming rush of would-be attendees.
Amid the chaos, a team of more than 800 law enforcement officers representing eight agencies made 27 arrests and ejected 55 people, Miami-Dade police said Monday.
In a news release issued on Tuesday morning, the Colombian federation said it regrets the incident and apologized to the tournament organizers, the host country and the people affected. The release said Jesurún also deeply regrets what happened.
The news release also offered the federation’s version of events, saying that employees of the stadium’s private security prevented the majority of the Colombian delegation from having access to the awards ceremony after the match, despite having proper identification. Ramon Jesurún was driven by parental instinct to complain about the employee using a hand maneuver to restrain his 43-year-old son, the release continued.
Jesurún is also a member of a decision-making council for FIFA, international soccer’s governing body, and is the vice president of South American governing body CONMEBOL, which stages Copa América.
According to Jesurún’s arrest report, he was accused of becoming “irate” when told by a security staffer to wait instead of going directly through a door leading from the stadium tunnel to the field. The staffer, identified as Jakari Shaw, was said to have been instructed by his company’s management to “temporarily hold back the pedestrians” at that spot. Jesurún and his son were both said to have approached Shaw and begun yelling at him from “inches” away. When Shaw put his hand on the chest of Jamil Jesurún to “guide him back,” per the report, the elder Jesurún pushed the staffer.
Jamil Jesurún was then said to have grabbed Shaw around the neck, pulled him to the ground and delivered two punches. While Shaw was still on the ground, Jamil Jesurún kicked him in the head, per police. Jesurún’s son was alleged to have grabbed and pushed a female staffer who tried to intervene and to have punched a security supervisor who arrived at the scene. Jesurún was also accused of striking the supervisor.
Jesurún was placed in custody at 12:51 a.m., about a half-hour after his son was arrested, per police.
Without addressing Jesurún’s arrest, CONMEBOL said it bears “regret that the acts of violence caused by malicious individuals have tarnished a final that was ready to be a great sports celebration.”
The South American body added that it was “subject to the decisions made by the Hard Rock Stadium authorities, according to the contractual responsibilities established for security operations.”
Stadium officials said in a statement issued early Monday morning that its arrangements for the final were made in collaboration with, among others, CONMEBOL and local law enforcement agencies.
“It is disappointing that a night of celebration was impacted by unlawful and unsafe behavior,” stadium officials said, “and we will fully review the processes and protocols in place tonight and work with law enforcement to ensure such an event never happens again.”
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