Fans of Argentina try to enter the stadium amid disturbances prior to the CONMEBOL Copa America 2024 ... [+]
As the situation deteriorated on Sunday night at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., it was hard for those of a certain age not to recall some of the darkest moments of the beautiful game’s history.
The reported decision to allow several thousands of unticketed fans into the stadium to avoid a potential crush at the turnstiles bore resemblance to the circumstances that preceded the 1989 Hillsbrough Disaster, which took the lives of 97 Liverpool fans as a result of a spectator crush at an FA Cup Semifinal.
The site of many of those same fans standing in the aisles and concourses could’ve also prompted memories the lesser-known 1996 tragedy in Guatemala City, when more than 80 fans died at a World Cup qualifier between Guatemala and Costa Rica as a result of an avalanche of fans tumbling down a stadium stairway.
After kickoff was delayed for 82 minutes Sunday, the Copa America final was allowed to begin, with Argentina capturing its second consecutive title with a 1-0 win in extra time over Colombia. And while their were numerous reports of scattered injuries and some apparent heat-related illness for fans, a wider scale tragedy was avoided.
Even so, as the last ragged night a a chaotic tournament played out, one of the most obvious questions was who to blame among CONMEBOL, CONCACAF and/or the United States.
The answer, most likely, is a mix of all of them.
CONMEBOL’s Influence
The assertions from South American fans that the disorder in this game and some others proves the United States is unprepared to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup are almost certainly based in a limited understanding of the major footballing events the country regularly hosts.
The U.S. is the de facto permanent host of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the continent’s biennial championship, and regularly deals with crowds of similar size and intensity for Mexico national team games in particular. There have at times been minor issues with thrown projectiles and a recurring homophobic chant among the fanbase, but never anything that suggested a threat to player or fan safety in the manner of Sunday’s final.
Similarly, the United States also regularly hosts some of the biggest clubs sides in the Euopean game for preseason friendlies that regularly draw tens of thousands of fans, without any notable incidents.
The variable that is different in this case would appear to be that CONMEBOL, South America’s football governing body, is in charge of tournament operations. And there has been all sorts of evidence suggesting CONMEBOL consulted very little with those who know the terrain about best practices at event venues.
From absurd broadcast camera angles on the world feed to exorbitant ticket prices that then resulted in late mass giveaways in some markets to avoid the appearance of empty seats, almost no details of planning this event appeared to draw on past experience.
Not Off The Hook
However, if the operations gaffes are direct consequences of CONMEBOL organization, the United States and CONCACAF both bear responsibility for agreeing to those terms on their home turf.
For years, there has been a fantasy in some corners of American and Mexican soccer of jumping from CONCACAF to CONMEBOL in search of better competition and more professional standards.
Perhaps that yearning clouded judgement and led U.S. and CONCACAF stakeholders to blindly trust the world’s second-most important continental federation (behind UEFA) with the heavy lifting.
If so, it was an obvious error, and one that makes questions over the United States’ ability to hold a successful 2026 World Cup fair game. Think of it this way: If you an own an event space and lease it to a concert organizer, and that organizer hosts an event resulting in significant injuries to patrons and the surrounding community, you as the owner don’t suddenly get to escape liability.
The best fans can hope for is that this will be a warning sign for the United States and FIFA that geography alone won’t make tournament organizers immune from the kinds of challenges they face across the rest of the world at major football events.
Despite all the chaos, the worst outcomes were avoided on Sunday night. But for the better part of several hours, they appeared frighteningly possible.