Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa defended his players' involvement in clashes with Colombia fans following their Copa America semi-final match at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, before criticising the United States and CONMEBOL for their organisation of the competition.
Following Uruguay's semi-final defeat, players were seen taking to the stands to fight with rival fans. Darwin Núñez and Ronaldo Araújo were among those involved, while captain José María Giménez said the players were simply trying to defend their relatives.
However, South American football's governing body CONMEBOL announced an investigation into the incidents, which also involved players from Colombia and Uruguay in a clash on the pitch after the final whistle.
“You have to speak thinking about all the threats you will receive if you speak,” said an angry Bielsa in the press conference before Friday's match. “That's why all I can say is that the players reacted like any human being would.”
“If you see what happened and there is something that is not right, [no other process to escape] and they are attacking their girlfriends, their mothers, a baby, their wives, their mothers… what would you do?”
The former Leeds United manager went on to attack media coverage of the incidents.
“Are you asking if there will be sanctions against those who went to defend us?” he said. “It is a level of complicity, because the questions also function as a form of complicity. I don’t know if you all think the same, if the question you ask would not be asked by another person, but this is what you journalists should say, not what I should say, at the risk of opening my mouth.”
“When you see an overreaction, when you see a violent action, of course nobody is going to be in favor of a violent reaction. But the first thing you have to see is what they are reacting to. And if there was another way to do it differently, and you all know this, but you want us on this side to open our mouths about it so that you are not the ones to point out what happened and then be affected in some way.”
Bielsa said his players had the right to an apology and added that “we are in the United States, the country of security.”
The Uruguayan Football Association (AUF) also claimed that there was a lack of security in the stands, which provoked “an unjustified but humanly understandable reaction” on the part of the players.
“This incident occurred in a context in which the presence of Uruguayan fans was very limited, mostly families, and sufficient security measures had not been implemented,” the AUF said in a statement.
“Given these facts, the players' behaviour was inevitable and natural,” he said, adding that he “strongly condemned” their aggression.
The coach went on to criticize CONMEBOL and the United States for the organization of the tournament, particularly the lack of security and the conditions of the fields at the stadiums regularly used by NFL teams.
Argentina, which will face Colombia in Sunday's final, criticised the conditions of the pitch at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta for the tournament's opening match.
“They knew seven months ago that we would play here and they changed the pitch two days ago,” Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni said after that match. “It's not an excuse, but this is not a good pitch. Honestly, the pitch is not suitable for these players.”
CONMEBOL defended the conditions of the pitches after criticism, saying the process of installing temporary pitches for the Copa America began a year ago and that “aesthetics can give a wrong perception.”
Eight of the stadiums used for the Copa America are host venues for the 2026 World Cup and renovations are planned that will allow for larger fields within two years. For the World Cup, FIFA usually takes control of the stadiums about a month beforehand.
“They have said that the pitches are in perfect condition and all the lies they have told here, holding a press conference to say that the pitches are perfect and it is clear that the grass pitches are useless. And they said that the training facilities are perfect, but Bolivia was not able to train and I have photos to prove that it is all a lie, this is a plague of liars,” added Bielsa.
“And then we talked – although I already said everything I promised myself I wouldn't say – and there were threats. Scaloni spoke once, he dared to say that the unity on the pitch was not adequate, that these are all known errors.
“The Americans don't tell you: 'I'm going to give you a perfect pitch,'” Bielsa continued. “They tell you: 'I'm going to give you a pitch that was laid out three days ago,' and the joints between the patches of grass don't fit.
“If you look at a play from yesterday's game inside the box, you'll see that the ball touched the ball twice and that's why. And the training facilities were a mess and Bolivia couldn't train, but they said: 'It's okay, it's Bolivia.'
“Then, the penalty in favour of Brazil and all the injustices with the lower categories of the competition, they say nothing about it. And then, the referees are accused by the president of the federation saying that they did not whistle a penalty in favour of Brazil knowing that this conditions the next match, you know how all this is.”
Uruguay will play Canada in the third-place match at Bank of America Stadium on Saturday night.
Information from Reuters contributed to this report.
