Safety failures led to Copa América closing chaos – report

Officers for Miami-Dade County stated an absence of intelligence gathering, inadequate safety perimeters and huge numbers of unticketed followers on stadium grounds led to the chaotic scene that unfolded forward of final 12 months’s Copa América closing between Argentina and Colombia at Arduous Rock Stadium.

Miami-Dade police obtained a report the day earlier than the ultimate that Texas legislation enforcement “skilled difficulties eradicating crowds from the stadium areas” after a separate Copa América match, and that enormous crowds had been forming within the streets close to the Colombia workforce resort in Florida, the then-chief of the Miami-Dade County Strategic Response Division wrote in an after-action report dated Dec. 13, 2024, and obtained by ESPN.

The data prompted officers to activate extra police for the sport. Not less than 900 members of legislation enforcement finally staffed or responded to the occasion, in accordance with the report.

Nonetheless, the report states, “the truth that 20,000 to 30,000 patrons had a plan to reach early, park off website, then crash the entry gates with overwhelming numbers was not gathered and shared by any intelligence supply. Had this info been recognized, our plan would have been modified for this contingency.”

The report recommends that legislation enforcement monitor social media platforms to find such plans.

1000’s of followers rushed Arduous Rock Stadium forward of the July match, leaping over safety railings and working previous law enforcement officials, jeopardizing the protection of followers, gamers and referees. The scene led stadium and match officers to delay the sport. Fifty-four individuals had been ejected and 26 individuals had been arrested, in accordance with the report.

The evening of the ultimate, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava stated she was “outraged” by what occurred and promised a evaluation.

Arduous Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, is the house of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins and can host seven FIFA World Cup matches in 2026.

ESPN contacted CONMEBOL — the federation that organized the event — Miami-Dade police and the mayor’s workplace for remark. A spokesperson for Arduous Rock Stadium stated its officers haven’t seen the report and due to this fact weren’t capable of remark.

Arduous Rock Stadium allowed unticketed vehicles and pedestrians onto the grounds forward of the match, in accordance with the report. Whereas Arduous Rock “permits followers open entry onto the grounds for the nice majority of occasions … with no prior unfavorable results,” the report recommends that the stadium take into account extending its safety perimeter and correctly display screen pedestrians and autos to stop unticketed people from coming into the parking heaps throughout high-profile occasions.

“Many individuals with out tickets crowded the entry gates and utilized their huge numbers to hurry the gates and bypass all safety measures,” the report states. “Efforts by police and stadium safety had been ineffective in sorting the ticketed patrons from these with out tickets. Non-ticketed followers couldn’t successfully be faraway from the gates as a result of massive variety of individuals pushing in opposition to the crowded gates.”

Stadium officers and police additionally had a tough time speaking with the massive crowds on the gate, the report states, recommending that police deploy moveable speaker methods for future occasions.

The report states that “an absence of group” by event organizers led to the “rampant use of picture tickets.”

As an alternative, occasion tickets ought to be issued electronically to attenuate the chance of fraud and duplication, in accordance with the report.

ESPN’s Lizzy Becherano contributed to this report.