A difficult situation for CONMEBOL a week before the tournament
Casemiro: Brazilian players are united against hosting the "Copa America"
An official position on the Brazilian national team and its coach will be announced next Tuesday.
EPA
Banners outside the Maracana stadium in Brazil calling for the tournament not to be organized.
Reuters
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Real Madrid star, captain of the Brazilian national football team, Casemiro, revealed that all the players of the team are united against Brazil's hosting of the "Copa America" tournament, which is scheduled to start on the 13th of this month, following the decision of the South American Confederation (CONMEBOL) to move the venue of the tournament. The tournament, which was scheduled to be held last year, was postponed due to the Corona virus pandemic. The Latin Federation will be in an embarrassing and difficult situation to save the tournament, especially in the short time period, and the rise of strong opposition voices inside and outside Brazil, and it may be heading to cancel.
The tournament was supposed to be held in Colombia and Argentina, but the two countries were excluded due to political issues and the Corona pandemic.
Brazil was awarded the right to host as part of its bid to preserve the title, despite being one of the countries most affected by the pandemic.
Before beating Ecuador 2-0, yesterday morning, in the World Cup qualifiers, the Brazilian coach, Tite, did not guarantee his team's participation in the tournament hosted by the country, and promised to shed light on the situation after the team's match against Paraguay next Tuesday.
After the Brazilian team maintained the full mark in the qualifiers by achieving its fifth victory, Casemiro was asked about the announced position of the team, and he told the "Globo" channel: "We cannot talk about (Copa America), even if everyone knows our opinion.
But we can't talk about it, everyone knows we're thinking.”
"Obviously we are thinking about 'Copa America,' but now we have to respect a certain hierarchy," he added.
Obviously we want to express ourselves about it.”
The Brazilian national team is preparing to face Paraguay before playing the opening match of the Copa America on June 13 against Venezuela.
He stressed: “I am not the only one, not just the players who are active in Europe (against hosting the tournament), all of us.
When someone talks, everyone does, or Titi, or the technical staff.
We must be united.”
The Brazilian national team scored two goals against Ecuador, Richarlison and Neymar, and the Brazilian team achieved the full mark in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. This is the first time since 1970 that the Brazilian team has won the opening five matches in the qualifiers.
The team plays in Group B "Copa America" with the teams of Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Venezuela.
In a declared and frank position, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro announced, the day before yesterday, that he would not hesitate to cancel the “Copa America” matches scheduled in the city in the event of the exacerbation of the Corona virus pandemic.
Eduardo Paes said in his weekly press conference on the health situation: “I do not see any benefit in hosting the (Copa America) matches, and I think that the current time is not appropriate to organize this tournament.”
The Brazilian government confirmed that the tournament, which was originally scheduled last year, but was postponed due to “Covid-19”, will start on time, that is, on the 13th of this month and will continue until July 10.
Voices condemned the decision to transfer the tournament to Brazil, which is considered the second largest country affected by the “Covid-19” epidemic, with the death of nearly 470,000 people.
It seems that Paes is also strongly opposed to the establishment of the tournament, noting that club matches, such as the Brazilian Championship and the Libertadores Cup for South American clubs, were allowed in Rio behind closed doors, according to a decree valid until the 14th of this month, that is, until the day after the start of the “Copa America” from The capital is Brasilia.
And he threatened: But if the situation worsens, we will have another decree that will put an end to that, that is, to football matches in the city.
He explained that "the organizers did not at any time contact the health authorities in the municipality."
And it will be the 14th of January, in which Rio will host the first scheduled matches, and Argentina will bring together Lionel Messi with Chile at the “Nilton Santos” stadium.
Seven matches will be held in this stadium, including one of the two semi-final matches, with the final being in the city as well, but at the legendary “Maracana” stadium.
Many of the stars of the South American teams expressed their dissatisfaction with the tournament being held in Brazil, despite the disastrous health situation, such as Uruguayan Luis Suarez.
• The mayor of Rio threatens to prevent the holding of the Latin Championship matches.. Opposition voices are rising in Brazil and abroad against it.
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