The arrest was A night of mayhem at Hard Rock Stadium Crowds of ticket holders and non-ticket holders packed the gates to watch the highly anticipated match, which Argentina won 1-0 in extra time. The start of Sunday’s match was delayed by nearly 90 minutes as event staff closed the gates to deal with the overwhelming influx of people hoping to get in.
Miami-Dade County police said Monday that a team of more than 800 officers representing eight agencies made 27 arrests and removed 55 people amid the unrest.
The Colombian federation did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the arrest of Jesulun and his 43-year-old son. Jesulun also sits on its decision-making body. Council President of the International Football Association (FIFA), vice president CONMEBOL, the South American football governing body that organises the Copa America.
According to Jesulun’s arrest report, he was allegedly “infuriated” when a security guard told him to wait rather than go directly through the stadium’s tunnel doors leading to the field. The security guard, who identified himself as Jakari Shaw, was allegedly instructed by company management to “temporarily stop pedestrians” at the location. Jesulun and his son both approached Shaw and allegedly began yelling at him from “a few inches” away. When Shaw put his hand on Jamil Jesulun’s chest to “make him move back,” Jesulun, the father, pushed the security guard, according to the report.
Jamil Jesulun then allegedly grabbed Shaw by the throat, pulled him to the ground and punched him twice. While Shaw was still on the ground, Jamil Jesulun kicked him in the head, according to police. Jesulun’s son allegedly grabbed and shoved a female staff member who tried to intervene, and punched a security supervisor who arrived on the scene. Jesulun is also accused of punching the supervisor.
Police said Jesrun was taken into custody at 12:51 a.m., about 30 minutes after his son was arrested.
CONMEBOL made no mention of Jesurin’s arrest, saying it regretted that “what should have been a great sporting spectacle of the final has been tarnished by violent acts committed by malicious individuals.”
The South American group added that it would “comply with the decisions of the Hard Rock Stadium authorities, in accordance with its contractual responsibilities regarding security operations.”
In a statement early Monday, stadium officials said preparations for the final had been made in cooperation with CONMEBOL, local law enforcement and other agencies.
“We are disappointed that our evening of celebration was marred by illegal and dangerous activity,” stadium officials said in a statement. “We will thoroughly review our procedures and protocols for tonight and work with law enforcement to ensure this type of incident does not happen again.”
