CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Darwin Núñez and a couple of dozen Uruguay teammates went into the stands as fans brawled at Bank of America Stadium following a 1-0 loss to Colombia in a Copa America semifinal on Wednesday night time.
After a bodily and contentious match, a melee broke out behind the Uruguay bench after Mexican referee César Ramos’ ultimate whistle.
The group of 70,644 was about 90% in favor in Colombia, however a small patch of Uruguay followers fought with Colombia supporters as drinks have been thrown.
Núñez and teammates then climbed a staircase into the gang. A video confirmed Núñez hitting a fan in Colombian staff colours.
Uruguay captain José Giménez mentioned gamers went within the crowd to guard their households.
“This can be a catastrophe. Our household is at risk. We needed to get into the stands to take out our family members with small infants, newborns,” he informed TUDN. “Every part was a catastrophe. There was not a single police officer.”
It took greater than 10 minutes for police to reach on the scene and to revive order. The general public tackle announcer requested for followers to depart the stadium, however a number of supporters remained.
About 100 Uruguayan followers and and members of the federation employees remained on the sphere for their very own safety greater than 20 minutes after the sport, whereas Colombia followers made their method out to have a good time.
CONMEBOL launched a press release after the sport saying that it strongly condemns any act of violence that impacts the sport.
“Our work relies on the conviction that soccer connects and unites us via its constructive values,” the group mentioned. “There is no such thing as a place for intolerance and violence on and off the sphere. We invite everybody within the remaining days to pour all of their ardour into cheering on their nationwide groups and having an unforgettable occasion.”
Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa mentioned he didn’t see what was taking place immediately.
“There was some argument within the midfield, and once I noticed that occuring, I went to the locker room. I assumed they have been thanking the followers for his or her help,” Beilsa mentioned. “However then I discovered there have been some issues over there sadly.”
___
AP Copa America protection:
window.fbAsyncInit = function() {
FB.init({
appId : ‘870613919693099’,
xfbml : true,
version : ‘v2.9’
});
};
(function(d, s, id){
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;}
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = ”
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));