Copa América final chaos: Argentina-Colombia delayed, fans stuck outside after gates breached and closed

Chaos and horror consumed the Copa América final prior to kickoff in Miami, where thousands of fans were stuck and increasingly crushed outside Hard Rock Stadium gates as security tried, and apparently failed, to manage the inflow of spectators for Sunday’s game between Argentina and Colombia.

For an extended period of time in the hour before a scheduled 8 p.m. kickoff, all stadium gates were closed. Organizers announced that the match had been delayed until at least 8:30. It eventually began at 9:22.

Fans, meanwhile, were suffering. Children were crying. Multiple people reportedly passed out. Multiple men were bloodied by police. As security refused to let fans enter, the crush toppled a barrier, as kids and parents squealed and screamed in panic.

Around 8:15, with the situation worsening, gates opened, and fans were allowed to enter without scanning their tickets — the only apparent solution.

A Hard Rock Stadium spokesperson said in a statement that organizers “communicated and decided to open stadium gates for a short period of time to all fans to prevent stampedes and serious injury at the perimeter.”

“The gates were then closed once the threat of fans being crushed was alleviated,” the statement continued. “At that time, the venue was at capacity and gates were not re-opened.”

Many ticketed fans, as a result, were barred from the game while many ticketless fans entered, and saw some or all of Argentina’s 1-0 victory over Colombia.

The chaos seemingly began when some un-ticketed fans — it’s not clear how many — breached at least one main entry gate. The Hard Rock Stadium spokesperson said that, “throughout the afternoon and evening, there were numerous attempts by unruly fans without tickets to overpower security and law enforcement personnel at entry points.”

At various points, they streamed toward the stadium concourse, with police and security personnel chasing after them.

The breach provoked a forceful police response, and then a lockdown of the breached gate, which seemed to exacerbate the chaos. Even a man holding up a credential was brutally tackled.

Authorities responded by eventually closing all stadium gates. The “gates were closed and re-opened strategically in an attempt to allow ticketed guests to enter safely and in a controlled manner,” the stadium spokesperson said.

This, though, left many ticketed fans — including, reportedly, family members of multiple players — unable to enter, and stuck in a mass of people, sweating in sweltering heat and South Florida humidity.

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni later said that some players spent an hour outside the stadium, concerned about those family members. The scenes, he said, were “difficult to understand.”

Prior to the full closure, for a brief time, authorities were letting fans in one by one, with a dozen officers lining the entryway.

But more still were congregating outside, expecting to enter. Many had paid hundreds, if not thousands of dollars for tickets to the final, the most expensive match of the four-week tournament.

Multiple journalists on the scene said they and others were told by police to stop filming the chaos, which will raise all sorts of critical questions about the preparedness of CONMEBOL, the South American soccer confederation in charge of the Copa América, and local organizers in Miami.

The Copa is not the first soccer tournament to struggle with crowd control. But these horrifying scenes — four days after a semifinal ended in a player-fan brawl — fall in line with the tournament’s wide-ranging disorder.

Videos of Sunday’s disorder began to spread shortly after gates opened, in the 5 p.m. hour.

An image of the aftermath showed destruction around an escalator at a stadium entrance.

The Miami-Dade Police Department later said in a statement that there had been “several incidents prior to the gates opening,” which had “been a result of the unruly behavior of fans trying to access the stadium.”

CONMEBOL released a statement warning fans that those “who do not have tickets will not be able to enter the stadium.” While that statement rang hollow, fans who did have tickets were also unable to enter the stadium:

Fans were also apparently resorting to unusual means to gain entry into the venue. Video posted to social media showed people attempting to climb through the vents to get in.

Additionally, fans weren’t the only ones having difficulty getting into the stadium. CONCACAF staff, credentialed journalists and other personnel working the match in official capacities are also still outside the gates. Some were never allowed to enter.

“We understand there are disappointed ticket holders who were not able to enter the stadium after the perimeter was closed,” the stadium spokesperson said in a statement. “We will work in partnership with CONMEBOL to address those individual concerns.”

It’s unclear how many fans ultimately did get in. Hard Rock Stadium holds roughly 65,000. According to reports, some fans were arriving at their purchased seats to find other fans already in them.

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