MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The president of the Colombian Football Federation and his son Crowd control issues It erupted during Sunday’s Copa America final. Argentina and ColombiaPolice announced this on Monday.
Ramon Jesuran and his son, Ramon Jamil Jesuran, were detained and charged after the incident at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami-Dade Police Detective Andre Martin told The Associated Press.
Both players are facing three charges of felony assault on an umpire for a fight with several stadium security guards. According to arrest records, both players were trying to enter the field through the tunnel where the media had gathered after the game. They were stopped by security, and the police report states that the two were “infuriated” by the delay. The altercation eventually escalated into a physical altercation, when a security guard “guided” Ramon Jamil Jesulun by placing “the palm of his hand” on his chest, leading the younger Jesulun to grab the guard “around the neck,” pull him to the ground and “strike two punches,” striking the guard, the report states. Both were taken into custody just after midnight.
The Colombian Football Federation did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press on Monday.
Ramon Jesullan, 71, has been president of the Colombian Football Federation since 2015 and is also vice-president of CONMEBOL, the South American football governing body that organises the Copa America tournament.
In a statement released on Monday, the organization said it regretted that numerous fans entered the stadium without tickets and “tainted” the event. The match was delayed for over an hour. Authorities tried to control the situation and eventually decided to allow some fans to enter without going through security checkpoints.
“In the present situation, CONMEBOL was required to comply with the decisions of the Hard Rock Stadium authorities, in accordance with its contractual responsibilities regarding security activities,” the organization said. “In addition to the preparations set out in this contract, CONMEBOL recommended to these authorities procedures proven in events of this magnitude, which were not taken into account.”
Hard Rock Stadium, which will host matches in the 2026 World Cup, said security is a shared responsibility between stadium officials, the organization, CONCACAF (the governing body for soccer in North, Central America and the Caribbean) and local police.
A stadium spokesman said in a news release that there were more than double the number of people at the venue on Sunday than for a normal event.
Miami-Dade Police said more than 800 officers attended the game, and in addition to the arrests, 55 people were ejected.
There was chaos just hours before the game was scheduled to kick off at 8pm. Final between two South American countriesFans forced their way into the venue, jumped security barriers and ran past police and stadium staff, some in hysterical conditions as they searched for those who had arrived with them.
The venue appeared to sustain extensive damage as a result. Videos and images posted to social media showed railings next to escalators inside the stadium shattered, leaving behind shoes, soda cans, reading glasses and clothing. Railings at the checkpoint at the stadium’s southwest entrance were bent as thousands of people, including crying children, surged past.
According to a statement from Hard Rock Stadium, stadium officials contacted tournament organizers around 8 p.m. and made the decision to open the gates to both ticketed and non-ticketed fans. Ticketed fans had crowded the entrances due to fears of crowd stampede and serious injury. The gates were then closed, leaving many ticketed fans stranded outside.
The stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, home of the NFL’s Dolphins, is set to host seven World Cup games in 2026, including the quarterfinals and third-place play-off.
FIFA organises the World Cup and is a separate organisation from CONMEBOL. FIFA is the international federation that oversees over 200 member associations that fall under regional bodies like CONMEBOL.
Ramon Jesuran too FIFA Council Members.
FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press on Monday about the crowd control issue and how to prevent similar problems in 2026.
Attorney Steve Adelman, a crowd-control expert and vice president of the Event Safety Coalition, said Hard Rock organizers failed to understand that Sunday’s game would draw passionate fans eager to see their teams, some of whom would try to force their way inside.
“A match between fans of rival South American countries couldn’t be more passionate,” he said.
Adelman said organisers should have learned from the 2021 European Championship final at Wembley Stadium in London, where ticket-less England fans stormed into the stadium to watch the match against Italy. Nineteen police officers were injured in the melee and 53 were arrested. In 1989, 97 people were killed when fans stormed the stadium at a major English game.
“Unfortunately, we’ve seen this type of aggressive fan behavior at international soccer matches,” Adelman said. “It’s undesirable and wrong, but it’s entirely predictable. … They should have planned for the crowd they knew they would have, not the crowd they wanted.”
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Associated Press writers Terry Spencer, Astrid Suarez and Gisela Salomon contributed to this report.
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