Copa America Final

[Chickenman Testa]

Absolute shit show before the game with crowd control and security. The South American Federation (CONMEBOl) getting most of the criticism, but planning the final for Miami probably not the best idea.

They probably avoided a true disaster - like Heysel or Hillsborough - by just letting the ticketless stream through to allow the crowd crush to dissipate. There are fans with tickets saying security won’t remove people clearly taking their seats. Security should be removing those people all game and throwing them in the cooler for the night at least.

 

[GreggK]

Absolute shit show before the game with crowd control and security. The South American Federation (CONMEBOl) getting most of the criticism, but planning the final for Miami probably not the best idea.

They probably avoided a true disaster - like Heysel or Hillsborough - by just letting the ticketless stream through to allow the crowd crush to dissipate. There are fans with tickets saying security won’t remove people clearly taking their seats. Security should be removing those people all game and throwing them in the cooler for the night at least.

having it Miami seemed like such a bad idea from the beginning. Especially from a weather point of view.
Hillsborough was the first thing I thought of.

 

[87 Penn St8]

having it Miami seemed like such a bad idea from the beginning. Especially from a weather point of view.
Hillsborough was the first thing I thought of.

Could be aligning of stars too. South Florida has a large Colombian population and the state has 600,000.

A lot of people a bus ride away probably figured they'd take the risk for a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Add in the Messi factor and it is FUBAR. No excuses though....shit show. Glad to be watching from the comfort and safety of my couch.

NEWS FLASH: Messi subbed out. Looked to pull something. No contact. Game changer...

 

[Wandering Spectator]

People suck

 

[87 Penn St8]

The last few stadium panoramas are pretty yellow. Maybe 2/3rds to 3/4ths Colombia fans.

 

[Obliviax]

The COPA and euro finals were great.

Culturally, what made the COPA fans think they could get in? You’d never see that in a USA game of any type. Does this happen all the time in South America?

I once spoke to an executive of a USA firm who grew up in Brazil. He said he starts every morning reading the police blotter. Cat up a tree, DUI, shoplifting. In Brazil it is ‘found a burlap bag full of heads.’

 

[jjw165]

3rd world shenanigans

 

[87 Penn St8]

The COPA and euro finals were great.

Culturally, what made the COPA fans think they could get in? You’d never see that in a USA game of any type. Does this happen all the time in South America?

I once spoke to an executive of a USA firm who grew up in Brazil. He said he starts every morning reading the police blotter. Cat up a tree, DUI, shoplifting. In Brazil it is ‘found a burlap bag full of heads.’

A former boss of mine took a Sr. VP position with the agency that markets and sells Olympic Sponsorships. After his first trip to Rio he was shocked. This is from a true global businessman who was based out of NYC.

Luckily for him the World Cup was there first as a trial balloon. The poverty gap in South America makes us look fair and equitable in comparison. I just sent a conciliatory text to a former student re the game outcome. I'm certain he is beyond sad....

We have a small block of Colombians in our school. Very proud group and relatively highly educated compared to other newcomers. Having their team in a community with likely 300,000 people who identify as Colombian, playing one of the 2 regional powers with the most celebrated player on the planet likely inspired/overwhelmed them.

Chaos indeed....

 

[bcspsu]

3rd world shenanigans

That's appropriate since the USA is rapidly on its way to becoming a Third World Country in many aspects. Ypu can't bring there to here without here becoming there.

 

[GreggK]

3rd world shenanigans

Not sure I would call Colombia or Argentina third world. Hillsborough which was referenced occurred in England in the 1980s 97 people died! Heysel was in Belgium and 67 people died.

What actually happened were the police were totally unprepared for this. There was very poor organization.

11 died at a Who concert in Ohio in 1979.
21 died at a club in chicago in 2003
9 died at a charity basketball game in nyc in 1991

There were a lot of other bad disasters, fires etc with much worse results. It is clear what you are getting at.

 

[jjw165]

Not sure I would call Colombia or Argentina third world. Hillsborough which was referenced occurred in England in the 1980s 97 people died! Heysel was in Belgium and 67 people died.

What actually happened were the police were totally unprepared for this. There was very poor organization.

11 died at a Who concert in Ohio in 1979.
21 died at a club in chicago in 2003
9 died at a charity basketball game in nyc in 1991

There were a lot of other bad disasters, fires etc with much worse results. It is clear what you are getting at.

Don’t forget the several thousand soccer fans without tickets storming a stadium in your list of people to blame.

 

[GreggK]

Don’t forget the several thousand soccer fans without tickets storming a stadium in your list of people to blame.

Obviously that is the first group to blame. I'm not excusing it, but its not fully what happened. People did rush without tickets, there were thousands waiting WITH tickets, the police stopped everyone from entering and it caused backup that led to a crush.

 

[gogolion]

I was reading how it is common in some of the South American countries for lots of folks without tickets to show up and try to get in. In these countries they mitigate the problem by having several layers of security, starting a number of blocks from the stadium. You have to have a ticket to even get close to the stadium, never mind to the gates of the stadium.