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The Copa América saw one of its saddest scenes after Colombia’s victory over Uruguay, which put the Colombian team in the final next Sunday, July 14, against Argentina at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. A fight between players in the center of the field then continued with a worse chapter in the stands, where some Celeste players jumped to fight with fans of the Tricolor.

Following the serious incidents, most of the players interviewed claimed that there had been previous attacks by fans on their relatives who were in that sector of the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. One of the scenes that was replicated on social media and in Uruguayan media during the last few hours showed Federico Valverde’s wife, the Argentine journalist Mina Bonino, trying to escape from the sector where the fight broke out with one of her children in her arms.

But that was not the only information about the problems experienced by the relatives of the players located in that area of ​​the stadium. The newspaper Ovación reported that the mother of PSG midfielder Manuel Ugarte fainted due to what happened and had to receive assistance. Mabel “was treated by the Uruguayan national team doctors on the field” and “after 25 minutes of the incidents ending” she was transferred to another area of ​​the stadium as a precaution. Luckily, they clarified that this fainting “did not go any further” although they did underline that “there were other people who suffered injuries, mainly fans.”

The father-in-law of striker Maximiliano Araújo, Luis Gómez, declared on Carve Deportiva that “we even received aggression from the police” and said: “Three (police) officers grabbed me and my daughter, my other daughter and my wife helped me so they wouldn’t take me away and, as best I could, I escaped. The same thing happened to another compatriot. Remembering everything that happened, the result was a shame, but the worst thing was seeing everything that happened in the stands.”

The Montevideo website stated that Darwin Núñez and Ronald Araújo were the first to jump into the stands to defend their families, although they also noted that several members of the squad decided to intervene in the conflict, including Manchester United striker Facundo Pellistri, who decided to help his father Marcelo. The same media outlet underlined that “Santiago Ferro and Diego Estavillo, the national team’s physical trainers, ended up with a cut on their heads from a bottle hit” in the middle of the conflict.

Once the violent scenes in the stands had subsided, the Liverpool striker could be seen in the centre of the pitch accompanied by his children and family, visibly moved by the incident he had recently witnessed.

A closer look at what happened between Darwin Nunez and Colombia fans. 🇨🇴🇺🇾 pic.twitter.com/IPJWs2xSK5

— CentreGoals. (@centregoals) July 11, 2024

#CRONIO Following Colombia’s victory over Uruguay in the 2024 Copa América semi-final, several Uruguayan national team players took to the stands following altercations that arose between fans from both countries.

Darwin Núñez was one of the footballers involved. pic.twitter.com/Grqsd2KaPx

— Cronio Digital Newspaper (@croniosv) July 11, 2024

Goalkeeper Sergio Rochet did not mince his words when speaking about the issue: he pointed directly at the Colombian fans, but also at the Colombian players themselves. “We went through an ugly moment. It is not nice to see that there are problems and your family is two meters away. We are sad because of the hope we had. Now we have to face this situation. One tries to stay away from that, but when you see that it is your family, small children, it is difficult. I was surprised by the lack of empathy of the Colombian players. I think they should have come to calm the waters,” said the Inter goalkeeper from Porto Alegre, as replied by Ovación.

The 31-year-old footballer said that “this could have been avoided” and explained: “That area should have been covered with other security. When we saw the family there, we all tried to get them out… There were small children. It was very ugly.”

Forward Luis Suárez clarified that they are not happy with the scene that took place at the end, but he also defended the reaction of his teammates who decided to intervene to protect their relatives: “The one who had the woman, the small children there, their parents, older people, went to see how they were and then things started to fall on them. One does not want to give the image that was given, but obviously if they see that they are attacking a family member they try to defend themselves in that sense, but it does not justify the image that was given. I think that you have to see that they were trying to protect their families, their children, who were there. I was looking from afar and what I saw was that there were many families, many children of teammates there cornered, and when things fall on them obviously you feel helpless.”

Marcelo Bielsa was asked about the matter at the press conference after the defeat, but he said that he only found out about what had happened in the dressing room: “No, I didn’t see everything that happened. I thought the incident had ended with a dispute that took place in the middle of the pitch and when I saw that it had been resolved, I went to the dressing room. I thought the players were in a corner of the pitch thanking the Uruguayan public for their support. But later I found out that there were other kinds of regrettable difficulties.”

This problem escalated to such a point that the president of the Uruguayan Football Association, Ignacio Alonso, came out to defend the footballers who, he clarified, “simply went to protect their family.” He added: “So far what we have had is internal dialogue, knowing that there was a natural, instinctive reaction, from a father, a husband, a brother, a son who, seeing his family in a very difficult moment and seeing that they did not allow evacuation to the field, which is what the protocol indicates.”

“They were surrounded, access to the pitch was blocked and at that moment the crowd was trapped, and they were also surrounded by an impressive number of Colombian fans, some of whom, as José María Giménez said, were aggressive towards them and then there were skirmishes that some people had to come out to break up. The situation got worse, but I think it was a natural reaction to what was happening,” said the president.

Defender José María Giménez had been one of the most effusive when speaking about the issue after the match. The Atlético de Madrid footballer said that “they made an avalanche for all our families in a certain part of Colombia” and affirmed that the people linked to the players “were in danger” due to what happened. “We had to go up to the stands to take out our loved ones with little newborn babies. It was a disaster. There wasn’t a single policeman, they came after half an hour. A disaster. And we were there defending our own people,” he said. At the same time he asked that this not happen again and pointed out the fans: “Our families are suffering because of some who take two sips of alcohol, who don’t know how to drink, who behave like children and are not decent. I hope they are careful in the next matches and that this doesn’t happen again because it is a disaster.”

And you, do you support Darwin Nuñez’s reaction for defending his family?