The Copa America 2021 has been thrown into further concern when ESPN claims that Argentina has withdrawn as host of the tournament.
The competition has already been delayed by one year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and will now take place between 13 June and 10 July 2021.
With the pandemic on its way up again in parts of South America, however, Qatar and Australia have already withdrawn from the tournament and take the numbers down to just ten teams.
Qatar and Australia withdraw from Copa America https://t.co/J4QoNSJ0Sr
– Indy Football (@IndyFootball) February 24, 2021
The plan had been for Argentina to host Group A while Colombia would host Group B, with qualified teams assigned a group based on their geographical location; southern teams join Argentina while those in the north go to Columbia for their group game.
But there have been concerns about the viability of continental travel as the virus threatens to spiral out of control, and ESPN’s Andres Agulla reports that Argentina will no longer host the competition.
Argentina is the organizer of the Copa America och Colombia quedaría como sede unica
– Andres Agulla (@aagulla_espn) April 22, 2021
This comes after Argentine President Alberto Fernandez expressed doubts that his country would be involved at all due to Colombia’s high levels of infection.
Quote from Marca, he said: “I do not want to frustrate the spectacle of the Copa America. But I want us to be sensible, to be careful. We have time to analyze things and see how it develops.
“Objectively, I see what happens to Argentine teams. They have not even left Argentina and I can see what has happened. New cases are repeated.
“Sports authorities must act with caution. What happens in Argentina’s football team shows what can happen if we leave Argentina to play in countries where the problem is worse.”
Everything is missing for the Copa! What mood do you identify with more?
? ? ? ? # CopaAmérica #VibraElContinente pic.twitter.com/rxuiJpeQag
– Copa América (@CopaAmerica) April 12, 2021
This was in stark contrast to Colombian President Ivan Duque, who says that if the Copa Libertadores can continue, so can the Copa America.
“There is a very clear commitment from Colombia,” he said earlier. “We have said that we are ready for the Copa America to be played in Colombia with all the necessary biosafety guarantees. We will host a group of five teams and we will be ready.
“It would be illogical if the national league and the Copa Libertadores could be played and yet five teams in a safe environment could not do so.”
