Argentina may be the 2024 Copa América champion, but that doesn’t mean that all the fights over the tournament are over.
Several fans have filed lawsuits against CONMEBOL, South American soccer’s governing body, and South Florida Stadium LLC, operator of the Miami Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium, for being denied entry into Sunday’s World Cup final, according to ESPN It is the Miami Herald.
The situation around Hard Rock Stadium was an absolute disaster for everyone involved, except for the ticketless fans at the center of the chaos. After security tried and often failed to keep fans out of the stadium, operators opted to close all gates in an attempt to restore order.
Instead, it created crowding in some areas and ended with many fans who paid hundreds or thousands of dollars waiting outside while the game was played. The game itself was also delayed by over an hour.
The lawsuits name those affected. ESPN reports on a lawsuit filed on Monday by Jacqueline Martinez, who claims she purchased four tickets to the Copa América final for US$4,395.59, only to be denied entry, while another was filed on Wednesday by Marta Pintos, Eduardo Martinez and Nicolas Osorio. Both lawsuits seek more than $100,000 in damages.
In the Herald, Isabel Quintero said she bought two $1,000 tickets for herself and her father as a belated Father’s Day gift, but they were denied entry and Quintero was pushed, stepped on and thrown into objects. His action blames the stadium’s security for an alleged lack of personnel, training and preparation.
From the Herald:
Defendants “negligently failed to implement any procedures…to remove unruly, rowdy and/or problematic patrons governing supervision and/or security from their premises; or, alternatively, …it actually had procedures regulating the inspection and/or security of its facilities, but implemented such procedures in a careless and negligent manner,” the lawsuit states.
Fans without tickets are nothing new at major international football events, especially in South America. Henry Bushnell of Yahoo Sports writes that tournament organizers often prepare with multiple security perimeters, which CONMEBOL and Hard Rock Stadium simply didn’t.
And now they could end up paying a considerable price. CONMEBOL released a statement on Friday pointing the finger at Hard Rock Stadium, claiming that it “was subject to decisions taken by Hard Rock Stadium authorities, in accordance with contractual responsibilities established for security operations”, and that its recommendations “were not taken into consideration. .”
