BEVERLY HILLS, May 31, (THEWILL) – The hosting rights granted to the South American nation of Argentina for the Copa America football tournament has been suspended less than two weeks to the commencement of the competition after a new spike in COVID-19 cases and growing public hostility against staging the football fiesta in the country.
According to the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL), it reached the decision to suspend Argentina’s hosting rights “in view of the current circumstances” and was now in an urgent search for new hosts in time for the schedule.
THEWILL recalls that originally, the delayed Copa America was billed for last year and was planned to be a jointly-hosted tournament, with Colombia as the co-host before the coronavirus pandemic threw a wrench in the plans.
When on May 20, Colombia pled with CONMEBOL to further delay the June 13 to July 10 schedule of the competition, following a wave of anti-Government protests and social unrest, coupled with an upsurge in COVID-19 cases, the continental football governing body refused and struck Colombia of their hosting rights.
The very same problems have now forced CONMEBOL to look elsewhere as the prospective sole host Argentina is under a nine-day lockdown and experiencing record daily infections from the fresh wave of COVID-19 in the country.
On May 22, the Argentine Government effected a lockdown with the hopes that it will work to flatten the curve of infections ahead of the event, yet, the record numbers are not showing any improvements at the moment.
Furthermore, a survey conducted by pollsters Poliarquia among a representative sample of 1,274 city-dwelling adults found that 70 per cent believed the country should withdraw even before CONMEBOL stepped in. Only 20 per cent of those surveyed in Argentina believed the event should go ahead on home soil, and 10 per cent were undecided.
In a statement making their decision public, the football body said: “CONMEBOL informs that in view of the current circumstances it has decided to suspend the organisation of the Copa America in Argentina.
“CONMEBOL is evaluating the offer of other countries that showed interest in hosting the continental tournament.”
As part of its hosting rights approval, Argentina had presented its “strict protocol” to CONMEBOL to host the tournament in its entirety, which involved preparing additional stadiums and all these were ready ahead of the commencement but for the new wave of COVID-19 infections.
The Confederation’s officials will converge on Monday to decide on the next move for hosting the tournament and the options that are open for their final decisions.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
