MIAMI (WSVN) - The Miami-Dade County Board of Commissioners is calling for answers after concerning images showed crowds of soccer fans storming into Hard Rock Stadium, causing chaos at the Copa America Final on Sunday.
What was supposed to be a night of sports was quickly upstaged by crowd control issues, turning it into a night of mayhem. Unruly fans without tickets barrelled their way through the gates and ran past cops, scaling walls, and even climbed into vents. The chaos left several legitimate ticket holders locked outside the gates.
“We paid close to $1,400 for each seat,” said Terry Ziemek who attended the game with his two sons David and Alex.
“They were climbing on top of the stadium to try to get inside and it was really clear that there was no security whatsoever stopping it at all,” David said.
This chaotic scene caused major damage inside and outside the stadium and led to the arrest of 27 people, including Colombia’s soccer federation president and his son.
“I pushed no one, I defended myself, watch the video, watch the video,” said Ramón Jesurún, Colombia’s soccer federation president as he walked out of jail. “But look, we had access.”
During a commissioners meeting on Tuesday, commissioners opted out of addressing the disarray that was on display on Sunday, however, one commissioner believes it should be discussed and expressed his disappointment to 7News.
“Obviously the optics are not the best, but more importantly I just think it’s clear that we were not prepared for it,” said Miami-Dade County Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez.
Bermudez originally requested that the security at Sunday’s event be talked about during Tuesday’s meeting, but that was denied.
He followed up by sending a second memo to convene a private meeting with Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and the commission to address the failed security protocol at the large-scale event.
“We have to acknowledge there was a problem number one and number two learn from that and number three we have to prepare,” said Bermudez.
She previously weighed in on the incident with a statement that was issued on Sunday and at a presser.
Although the stadium has hosted large events in the past like the Super Bowl, Commissioner Bermudez agrees the passion of international soccer fans is different. However, he said the Copa chaos was a test for what is to come for the World Cup, a test that was failed.
“We need to discuss this and obviously some of the things that cannot be discussed publicly, such as security preparations, are fine,” said Commissioner Bermudez. “But we need to feel confident that we’re going to hold a world-class event like the World Cup, then we need to have better preparation.”
Copa America’s parent company is in charge of ticket sales, organization and security for the stadium hosting the game. Miami-Dade County released a statement Tuesday stating they tried to follow and exceed the plan given to them by the parent company.
Neither Hard Rock Stadium nor the organizer, CONMEBOL have accepted full responsibility for the havoc.
The World Cup is organized and run by FIFA.
Details on new protocols and security measures have not been released.
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