Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa criticises Copa America organisers, saying ‘it wasn’t professional’

Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa on Friday lambasted Copa America organizers, saying the tournament “was not professional” and criticizing security and field conditions in the United States.

Bielsa’s comments came after several Uruguay players clashed with fans in the stands at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, after the semi-final defeat to Colombia. The altercations broke out in an area where the players’ families, including some children, were seated.

CONMEBOL, the South American soccer federation that has chosen to host the Copa América in the United States for the second time, has opened an investigation into the incident.

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Asked ahead of Uruguay’s third-place play-off against Canada at the Bank of America Stadium on Saturday night whether he was concerned his players would face sanctions, Bielsa, 68, became visibly upset.

Darwin Nunez consoles himself on the pitch after the unpleasant scenes that followed Uruguay’s elimination (Omar Vega/Getty Images)

“The only thing I can tell you is that the players reacted like any other human being would,” he said. “If you see that there is a process to prevent what happened from happening. If you see that what happened is happening anyway, and there is supposedly another process — a way out, let’s say — and both fail, and you see your wife, or your mother, or a baby, being attacked, what would you do? You would wonder, are they going to punish the people who defended themselves?”

“What you should ask me, if you had any sympathy, is whether the players received an apology from those who are responsible for taking care of every spectator.

“You ask me if I am afraid of sanctions? How could I be afraid of a sanction that should be impossible to implement?”

He then focused on the state of the tournament’s pitches, which has been widely criticised by players and coaches.

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After Brazil’s 1-1 draw with Colombia, Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior said: “The Copa America is always difficult because of the pitches, because of the referees who are always against us. It’s always difficult, but we have to stay strong. We can only talk if we win. When we talk, CONMEBOL says we talk too much.”

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni also criticised the turf at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium after his team’s win over Canada in Atlanta, Georgia, saying the turf was “not fit for show” and “not up to the standards for these players”. He then repeatedly refused to answer questions on the matter, saying it was “over”.

“They lied,” Bielsa said. “They hold press conferences and say: ‘No, the pitches are perfect, the training pitches are perfect’… I have all the photos that show that these are lies. It’s a plague of liars. Now I’ve already said everything I promised (the organisers and the federation) that I wouldn’t say. These are all punishments that are coming.”

Bielsa was visibly animated (Omar Vega/Getty Images)

“These are all mistakes that were known in advance,” he continued. “The North Americans don’t say, ‘You’re going to have a perfect pitch.’ They say, ‘We’ll give you a pitch that was installed three days ago, or (x) days ago.’ The training pitches were a disaster.

“They have a press conference and say it’s an optical illusion. Vinicius (Junior) can’t see. That (Lionel) Scaloni shouldn’t talk. That the training grounds are all perfect while we all have a collection of (bad) grounds.”

The Uruguay coach then referred to the 2015 FBI scandal that led to the downfall of Sepp Blatter, the former president of world football’s governing body FIFA, and a host of other football administrators.

“The United States, I remind you, when they felt that their interests were under attack, they created FIFAGate. With the FBI. They did what they did, but it was for their interests. Here? Nothing happened. It was a fantastic party, a competitive tournament, there is nothing to complain about.”

CONMEBOL has been contacted for comment.

The Uruguayan football federation, AUF, issued a statement Friday saying its representatives had behaved in an “exemplary” manner throughout the tournament.

Regarding the incidents that occurred in the semi-final, the AUF said that its players, in the “context of moments of nervousness and despair in which women and children were held hostage”, went down to the stands “to intercede for their protection and defense”.

“It is clear that this event occurred in a context where the proportion of Uruguayan fans was very low, mostly families, and where there were no sufficient security mechanisms for such a situation,” the AUF said. “Given these events and the lack of security mentioned above, the players’ attitude was inevitable and natural.”

The AUF added: “Unfortunately, the events described, which have damaged the health of the family in a context of lack of protection, have generated an unjustified but humanly understandable reaction.”

(Top photo: Omar Vega/Getty Images)