CONMEBOL Blames Hard Rock Stadium for Copa America Chaos

CONMEBOL has blamed Hard Rock Stadium for inadequate crowd control and trespassing issues that escalated at Sunday night’s Copa América final between Lionel Messi‘s Argentina and Colombia.

Chaos at the gates prompted an 82-minute delay to the start of the match. Organizers and security tried to keep those without tickets out while allowing entry to those who had tickets to pass. Eventually, they gave up and let everyone in, to reduce the possibility of injury.

“In this situation, CONMEBOL was subject to decisions made by the Hard Rock Stadium authorities, according to the contractual responsibilities established for security operations,” South America’s soccer governing body said in a statement. “In addition to the preparations determined in this contract, CONMEBOL recommended to these authorities the procedures proven in events of this magnitude, which were NOT taken into account.”

Earlier Monday, Hard Rock Stadium issued a statement clarifying that the event was organized in collaboration with CONMEBOL, CONCACAF and local law enforcement agencies. Despite regretting the outcome, in the statement Hard Rock Stadium emphasized its ongoing commitment to working closely with law enforcement to prevent such incidents in the future. CONCACAF, the co-organizer of the tournament, did not respond to Sportico’s request for comment at the time of the publication of this story.

But according to accounts from fans and journalists, the disturbances could have been averted with better planning and management.

Argentines Lucas Regolo and Agustina Comelli have attended approximately 40 Argentina matches, from group stage matches during the 2011 Copa America in Argentina to all Argentina matches at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. As passionate soccer fans, they believed it would be unforgettable for their 9-year-old twins to attend the Copa América final in person Sunday night as a family.

“I have never thought I’d experience anything like last night,” Regolo said in a phone interview. “It was complete chaos.”

After Argentina beat Canada reach to the final, the family and a friend traveled from Buenos Aires to watch the final in Miami Gardens, Fla. They paid $1,200 per ticket, purchased on the secondary market—more than what they paid for tickets to the World Cup final in Qatar.

“We felt it was worth seeing Messi play one more time with our children,” Regolo said.

Arriving at Hard Rock around 5:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, they parked their rental car and walked around the stadium to get to their gate only to find it closed. “We were informed that the gates were shut due to people trying to enter with fake or no tickets. No one could tell us when they would reopen,” he said.

By then, thousands of fans without tickets had rushed the gates, causing a stampede to unlawfully enter the stadium. This prompted security guards to shut down all entrances, leaving thousands of ticketed fans stranded outside.

In the 100+ degree Miami heat, the situation became increasingly dire outside the gates with pushing and shoving.

Regolo felt the police’s efforts to control the crowd instead exacerbated the chaos. Eventually, the couple moved away from the gates to protect their children. They wandered around the stadium until around 8 p.m. ET, the final’s initial start time, when they noticed a group of people entering through a gate. “We ended up getting in without showing our tickets,” he admitted. “It was pure luck.”

Veronica Brunati, a correspondent for Fox Argentina, did not share Regolo and Comelli’s luck. While completing her pregame assignment reporting from outside Hard Rock Stadium, she witnessed fans walking straight from the festival to the stadium. “I noticed there were no security perimeters [between the fan festival and the stadium gates],” she said. “Anyone could walk up to the gates, ticket or not. And they did.”

Once Brunati’s assignment was finished, she had a ticket to attend the game as a fan. But she found herself among the thousands who did not get into the stadium. “Many people outside the gates were injured, crying, desperate,” she said.

Martin Fradkin, a producer with ESPN’s content development unit who attended the game as a fan, pointed to serious organizational failures. “In my opinion, there was a complete lack of communication among the organizers,” he said. “It’s not just CONMEBOL but also CONCACAF [and] the stadium staff. Accountability remains unclear.”

After waiting outside, Fradkin eventually entered along with hundreds of others. “No one even checked my ticket,” he noted. He was able to sit in his seat.

Bianca Soifer, a freelance reporter who lives in Buenos Aires, was credentialed to attend the game as a member of the media. After finding herself stuck outside the gates with ticketed guests and other members of the media, the reporter accessed the stadium right before the kickoff through the media entrance.

“People always criticize Latin America for being ill-prepared for big events,” Soifer said on a phone call. “But we [in Argentina] take security measures so much more seriously, protect people, even for smaller matches,” she said.

Fradkin said the organizers underestimated the demand to watch the game in person and the unticketed fans’ willingness to enter. “Tickets for the final was as expensive as the final of the World Cup. They may have expected it to be like the Super Bowl, but soccer draws a different crowd,” he said.

Fradkin, who has worked at hundreds of soccer matches, emphasized the importance of security perimeters for high-demand sporting events. “Allowing people without tickets near the gates can lead to stampedes. Security needs to control access well before the stadium,” he said.

Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium is scheduled to host seven World Cup games in 2026.

“In my 20 years covering the Argentine national team across 40 countries, I’ve never witnessed anything like yesterday,” Brunati said. “It’s a miracle no one lost their life.”