CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Uruguayan soccer players climbed into the Bank of America stands after their defeat in a Copa America semifinal Wednesday night, with several of them exchanging punches with Colombian fans.
You know where one of those punches landed?
Squarely on the city of Charlotte.
No matter what the results of the brawl are — suspensions, arrests, lawsuits, whatever — it’s clear that this postgame altercation gave Charlotte a black eye. Bank of America Stadium, too. You don’t want your city mentioned as the dateline on coverage of an international sporting controversy, but here we are.
Was there enough security at the stadium? Were the Uruguayan family members really in imminent danger, as a Uruguayan player would claim later on the official TV broadcast?
And could all of this have been avoided if members of Uruguayan player families had been seated in suites, away from the general public, instead of in the stands? (This decision of where to seat the families, according to a source with knowledge of the situation, was made by CONMEBOL, the tournament’s organizing body, and not Bank of America Stadium officials, who offered other more secluded options).
Those are the questions that will be wrestled with in the coming hours and days, and the questions that will sully what otherwise was a spectacular summer night of soccer, with Colombia upsetting Uruguay, 1-0, in one of the biggest soccer matches Charlotte has hosted. By winning, Colombia earned a spot in the Copa America final Sunday against Argentina in Miami.
The game result delighted the near-sellout crowd of 70,644 fans at Bank of America Stadium, which was mostly clad in yellow and blue and appeared to be about 90% in favor of Colombia. Throughout the game — actually, throughout this overly physical Copa tournament — tempers flared and yellow cards were issued. After the game, there were some arguments on the field between the players.
But all of that was sort of normal. What brought this incident into the abnormal was what looked like — from social media and Fox Soccer videos — close to a dozen Uruguayan teammates going into the stands. This happens so rarely in sports that when it does, documentaries sometimes get made about it (see “Malice in the Palace,” the infamous NBA player/fan brawl between Detroit and Indiana in 2004.)
Uruguay is contending that its players believed their family members — who were indeed surrounded by thousands of rowdy Colombian fans celebrating a victory — were in danger. That’s purportedly why what is usually a sacrosanct line — the one between players and fans — was breached.
In an impassioned interview with the official TV broadcast that was translated from Spanish and posted to X by the FoxSoccer account, Uruguay captain Jose Maria Gimenez said in part: “They stormed all our families, a certain sector of Colombian fans. They don’t want me to say anything about what’s going on, but this is a disaster. This is a disaster.
“Our family is in danger,” Gimenez continued. “We had to get on top of the stands ASAP to rescue our loved ones with newborn babies. It was a disaster. There was not a single policeman. … And we were there facing the consequences for our people. Those who are organizing this (need to be) a little more careful with the families and with the people around the stadiums. Our families are suffering because of some who drink one or two shots of alcohol; who don’t know how to drink; who behave like children.”
Fortunately, everyone who walks into Bank of America Stadium goes through some sort of metal detector. What happened Wednesday was seemingly confined to fisticuffs and thrown drinks. Any injuries likely will be minor.
But it’s not a good look. The game had already been contentious, with Colombia’s Daniel Munoz sent off for getting two yellow cards in the same contest. That left Colombia down one man for the entire second half. But Colombia held off Uruguay, made a first-half goal stand up and won anyway. Then came the brief disagreements and arguments on the field after the final whistle.
And then, the fight in the stands.
Videos appear to show some security people trying to get to the altercation that included Uruguayan star forward Darwin Nunez, but having difficulty due to crowded aisles and people leaning in trying to videotape or watch the fight. CONMEBOL issued a milquetoast statement after the fight that said “CONMEBOL strongly condemns any act of violence that affects football” and not much else. (CONMEBOL announced Thursday afternoon it “has opened an investigation to understand the sequence of events and the responsibilities of those involved in the acts of violence.”
I talked to a source with direct knowledge of what happened Wednesday night and the decisions that helped lead to what transpired.
The source made the following points besides the fact that it was CONMEBOL that put the Uruguayan players’ families in the stands, behind the Uruguayan bench, rather than in suites or a section more secluded from the general population of 90% Colombian fans. Stadium officials did offer other options. (It’s unclear if Colombian players’ families also sat behind the Colombian players bench). Other points that the source made:
— While there were some reports that it took security a relatively long time to reach the fight, there were security members on-site in less than one minute.
— In comparison to other full-capacity events at the stadium — a packed football or soccer game or a concert — there were actually more security personnel at the stadium Wednesday night, not less.
— Saturday’s third-place game, between Canada and Uruguay, should be a different atmosphere given the lower stakes of the game and also the fact that the two countries aren’t traditional rivals.