Uruguay national team coach, Marcelo Bielsa, attacked the United States’ organization of the 2024 Copa America, and considered that what happened in the Colombia match was due to the lack of adequate security in the stands.
A number of Uruguayan national team stars entered into a dispute with Colombian fans in the stands after the semi-final match, which ended with Bielsa’s team losing 1-0.
The coach was asked at the press conference for Canada’s third-place match about what happened and whether he was afraid of the penalties expected to be imposed, which made him fly into a rage in every sense of the word.
In his speech, Bielsa said, “You know who is responsible for protecting the fans in the stands. You have to ask me if the players received an apology from those responsible for maintaining security.”
He also added, “What the players did was inevitable. Anyone would have behaved like this when wives, mothers, and children were attacked. What should the players have done?”
He continued, “The punishment should not be on the football players, but rather on those who forced the football players to behave in this way. What happened was a real shame.”
He concluded, “Protecting the fans is not the responsibility of the players. There must be a minimum of common sense. The players should receive an apology for bearing responsibility for security. The players acted as any human being would have done.”
