Uruguay Manager Marcelo Bielsa Copa America He called out tournament organizers on Friday for the “unprofessional” nature of the event and criticized security and stadium conditions in the United States.
Bielsa’s comments came after several Uruguay players clashed with fans at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, following their semi-final defeat. ColumbiaAn argument broke out in the area where players’ families, including children, were sitting.
The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL), which opted to host the Copa America in the United States for a second time, has launched an investigation into the incident.
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Ahead of Uruguay’s third-place playoff Canada – at Bank of America Stadium on Saturday night – the 68-year-old Bielsa was visibly upset as to whether his players feared being sanctioned.
Darwin Nunez is consoled on the pitch after the ugly scenes following Uruguay’s elimination (Omar Vega/Getty Images)
“All I can say is that the players reacted like any other human being,” he said. “If there was a process to prevent what happened from happening. If what happened would have happened anyway, if there was another process, an escape route, what would you do if both of those failed and you saw your wife, your mother or your baby being attacked? You ask, are we going to punish the people who protected you?”
“If you have any sympathy what you should be asking me is whether the players have received an apology from those responsible for looking after every single person in the crowd.
“Are you asking if I’m scared of sanctions? Why should I be scared of sanctions that will never happen?”
He then focused on the state of the tournament’s pitches, which have been widely criticised by players and managers.
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rear Brazil1-1 draw with Colombia real madrid Star Vinicius Junior “The Copa America is always difficult because of the pitch and the referee always gives decisions that go against us. It’s always difficult but we have to be strong. We can only talk by winning. When we talk, CONMEBOL says we talk too much.”
Argentina Coach Lionel Scaloni also criticized the grass at Mercedes-Benz Stadium after the team’s opening-game win over Canada in Atlanta, Georgia, saying the pitch was “unspectacular and not up to the standards of the players” and then repeatedly refused to answer questions about it. Say it’s “done.”
“Everything they said is a lie,” Bielsa said. “In the press conference they said: ‘No, the stadium is perfect, the training ground is perfect’… I have all the photos that show these are all lies. This is an epidemic of liars. Now, I said and I will not say everything I promised (to the organisers and the federation). These are all punishments that are coming.”
Bielsa was clearly invigorated (Omar Vega/Getty Images)
“These are all errors we knew about in advance,” he continued. “North Americans don’t say, ‘We’re going to give you a perfect pitch.’ They say, ‘We’re going to give you a field that was installed three days ago, or (x) days ago.’ … The training pitch was disastrous.
“They hold a press conference and say it’s an optical illusion, Vinicius (Junior) doesn’t see, (Lionel) Scaloni shouldn’t talk, they say all the training pitches are perfect but we all have our collections (of bad pitches).”
The Uruguay coach was referring to the 2015 FBI investigation that led to the downfall of Sepp Blatter, the former president of soccer’s world governing body. FIFAand many other football administrators.
“Let me remind you, the US created FIFAgate when they felt their national interests were being violated. They teamed up with the FBI. What they did was in their national interest. Here? Nothing happened. It’s a great party, a competitive tournament and there’s nothing to complain about.”
CONMEBOL has been contacted for comment.
Uruguayan Football Federation AUF The company released a statement on Friday. He said the players had behaved in an “exemplary manner” throughout the tournament.
The AUF said the semi-final incident occurred during a “situation of tense and desperate moments when women and children were taken hostage” and that players rushed into the stands to “intervene for their protection and defence”.
“It is clear that this incident occurred in a situation where the presence of Uruguay fans was extremely small, mostly families, and where sufficient safety measures for such situations were not in place,” the AUF said. “Given this incident and the lack of safety measures mentioned above, the behaviour of the players was inevitable and natural.”
The AUF added: “Unfortunately, the above incident, which violated the health of a family in a situation where there was insufficient protection, has provoked an unjustified but understandable human reaction.”
(Top photo: Omar Vega/Getty Images)
