2024-07-13 08:58:05
Marcelo Bielsa has lashed out at the United States, the host of the Copa America, after what happened during Uruguay’s defeat against Colombia, when international players from the Celeste jumped into the stands to fight with Colombian fans who had rushed towards the area where the relatives and friends of the Uruguayan players were.
“We are in the USA, the country of security, so to speak. How can you not defend your mother, your sister, a baby? If they didn’t, they would have been condemned by all of us,” said Bielsa at the press conference prior to Uruguay’s match against Canada this Saturday in the fight for third place in the Copa America.
“Pointing the finger at the referees, saying that the pitches are perfect and all the lies they have told. They said that the training pitches were perfect, Bolivia couldn’t train and I have the photos. They are a plague of liars. The training pitches are a disaster, then the penalty not called on Brazil,” he said, really angry in the press room.
“When the United States felt that its interests were being attacked, it created FIFA Gate with the FBI. Nothing happened here, full stadiums, competitiveness, full stadiums… What cannot be done is to continue deceiving. The head of the field of play assured that it was a visual issue, that Vinicius does not see, that Scaloni does not have to speak. They should have come out and said that the training pitches were unpresentable. Scaloni was told that he spoke once and that he should not do it again. Everyone is threatened. What are they going to do? Are they going to suspend them? They only have to say that they are responsible,” continued Bielsa in his argument against the organization of the Copa America.
AUF statement
The Uruguayan Football Association also published a statement defending itself against the accusations leveled against it. “The Uruguayan delegation, present in the United States for more than a month, has been carrying out its activity in an exemplary manner,” the official statement begins.
The AUF did not hesitate to protect its players after what happened at the end of the match against Colombia: “Given these events and the lack of security mentioned above, the players’ attitude was inevitable and natural.” The statement concludes as follows: “This Association, in its 124 years of existence, proudly privileges the utmost respect for the rules of civic conduct, banishing all acts of violence in sport.”
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2024-07-13 08:58:05