Argentina on Wednesday presented to South America’s football federation CONMEBOL its “strict protocol” to host all of the Copa America 2021 games, as the country suffers its worst moment of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Argentine President Alberto Fernandez and CONMEBOL’s Alejandro Dominguez studied logistics and organizational challenges — including the preparation of additional stadiums — and “everything related to the sanitary protocols,” a statement from the football federation read. On May 20 CONMEBOL rejected a plea by Colombia to postpone the June 13-July 10 tournament that it was to share with Argentina. Copa America was due to take place last year but was postponed by 12 months due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Colombia is in the midst of a wave of protests and social unrest that has resulted in 44 deaths. Covid-19 cases have also shot up in the last few weeks. CONMEBOL representatives have been inspecting Argentine stadiums that could host games originally set to take place in Colombia, including the July 10 final.
With just three weeks to go before kickoff officials are still considering whether Argentina has the proper sanitary conditions to host the tournament. In Argentina, population 45 million, there have been more than 3.6 million novel coronavirus infections and more than 75,500 virus deaths. The Fernandez administration is betting that the nine day lockdown that began on May 22 will flatten the curve of infections ahead of the sports event.