Planned a year ago in Argentina and Colombia, then postponed, before being moved to Brazil at the last minute, will the Copa América only take place?

While the opening of the tournament is scheduled for Sunday in Brasilia, a new twist calls into question the holding of the competition.

Seized by appeals from a union and a left-wing party, the Supreme Court of Brazil announced Tuesday evening in a statement that it will rule urgently on Thursday "about the realization of the Copa America in Brazil".

The "extraordinary virtual session lasting 24 hours" should allow the 11 judges to vote in turn in writing, without debate.

Very controversial in a country hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, the organization of the Copa America has taken on a political dimension.

Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro immediately accepted the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) 's request to host the competition after Argentina and Colombia withdrew, causing strong misunderstanding in the country.

If Colombia is affected by an epidemic wave in addition to serious social unrest, the situation in Argentina is much less worrying than in Brazil, where 475,000 people have died since the start of the pandemic.

The country has also seen the emergence of the Gamma variant (new name for the Brazilian variant) and is under the threat of a third wave since the appearance of several cases linked to the Delta variant (the Indian variant).

A political affair

The choice of Bolsonaro is therefore widely criticized, and the position of the national team scrutinized with attention.

As soon as rumors appeared about the opposition of the Seleçao to the tournament, coach Tite was treated as a "leftist" on social networks, while Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, eldest son of the head of state, had asked the players to "not let themselves be manipulated" and to do everything to "avoid a boycott".

Conversely, Senator Renan Calheiros, a fierce opponent of Bolsonaro, urged Neymar to refuse to compete in "the championship of death".

Tuesday evening, on the sidelines of their victory in the playoff match of the 2022 World Cup against Paraguay (2-0), and at the same time when the Supreme Court was seized, the players expressed themselves on their social networks in a common text .

“For various reasons, be they humanitarian or professional, we are dissatisfied with the way Conmebol has handled the Copa América.

We are against the organization of the Copa America, but we will never say no to the Brazilian selection.

"Neymar and his teammates therefore cut the pear in two, mixing opposition and refusal of the boycott, adding that" at no time did we want this discussion to take on a political dimension.

To know if the Seleçao will play well its opening match Sunday against Venezuela, it will be necessary to wait… Friday morning, rather early.

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