Copa América Centenario

The Copa América Centenario (Portuguese: Copa América Centenário, French: Coupe Amerique Centennaire, English: Centennial Cup America;[2][3] literally Centennial America Cup) was an international men's soccer tournament that was hosted by the United States in 2016. The competition was a celebration of the centenary of CONMEBOL and the Copa América, and was the first Copa América hosted outside South America.[4]

Copa América Centenario
Centennial Cup America (English)[1]

Copa América Centenário (Portuguese)

Coupe Amerique Centennaire (French)
Tournament details
Host countryUnited States
DatesJune 3–26
Teams16 (from 2 confederations)
Venue(s)10 (in 10 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Chile (2nd title)
Runners-up Argentina
Third place Colombia
Fourth place United States
Tournament statistics
Matches played32
Goals scored91 (2.84 per match)
Attendance1,483,855 (46,370 per match)
Top scorer(s)Chile Eduardo Vargas (6 goals)
Best player(s)Chile Alexis Sánchez
Best goalkeeperChile Claudio Bravo
Fair play award Argentina
2015
2019

The tournament was a commemorative version of Copa América (not the 45th edition). It was held as part of an agreement between CONMEBOL (the South American football confederation) and CONCACAF (the football confederation for North and Central America and the Caribbean) as a special edition between the usual four-year cycle, and featured an expanded field of sixteen teams (an increase from the usual twelve), with all ten teams from CONMEBOL and six teams from CONCACAF. Despite the tournament being an official iteration of the Copa América, the winner would not receive an invitation to the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup due to the commemorative nature of the tournament, although eventual winners Chile had already qualified through their 2015 victory.

Chile became the fourth nation to win at least two consecutive titles in CONMEBOL tournaments, after Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil. Argentina, meanwhile, lost their third consecutive final in a major tournament, following losses to Germany at the 2014 World Cup and Chile at the 2015 Copa América.

Planning edit

In February 2012, Alfredo Hawit, then Acting President of CONCACAF, announced that the competition would be expected to take place in 2016, as a celebration of CONMEBOL's centenary.[5] CONMEBOL President Nicolás Leoz said "Hopefully we can organize a big event, because we're 100 years old and we want to celebrate big."[6]

The tournament was announced by CONMEBOL on October 24, 2012[7] and confirmed by CONCACAF on May 1, 2014.[1]

On September 26, 2014, FIFA announced that the tournament had been added to the FIFA International Match Calendar, meaning that clubs had to release players called up to the competition.[8]

The tournament occurred in June 2016, along with UEFA Euro 2016.

Sports executive corruption edit

The tournament was placed in doubt after several high-profile sports executive arrests were made including people involved with media rights holder Datisa (using the trading name of "Wematch"), a partnership between three media rights companies; Full Play, Torneos and Traffic Sports Marketing. In December 2014, Brazilian José Hawilla, the owner and founder of Traffic Sports pled guilty to "corruption charges including racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering". In an indictment, the FBI stated that officials were to receive bribes totalling US$20million for the 2016 event.[9][10] Datisa held agreements for the commercial rights with CONMEBOL and CONCACAF and had their bank account frozen placing the tournament in jeopardy.[11] On October 21, 2015, CONCACAF announced that they had terminated their agreement with Datisa.[12]

On October 23, 2015, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL and the hosting association US Soccer Federation all confirmed that the tournament was going ahead as originally intended.[13][14][15]

Trophy edit

 
The trophy was designed exclusively for this edition

A new trophy was supposed to be created for the tournament and was to be unveiled on July 4, 2015, at the 2015 Copa América final.[16] No trophy was unveiled amidst the FIFA corruption scandal.[citation needed] However, CONMEBOL announced that, on April 28, 2016, a presentation for the trophy would take place in Bogotá, Colombia.[17]

On April 28, 2016, it was explained on the Copa América website that the "new" trophy was in fact commemorative, and would only be given to the winning country to keep, while the original silver trophy would continue to be awarded to each winner of the tournament (including the 2016 winner). The Centenario trophy retains the silhouette of the original trophy's Grecian urn, but is plated in matte gold. The front of the trophy is adorned with a raised (and in the case of some parts of the logo, engraved) image of the Copa América Centenario wordmark and logo. On each side are raised and polished images of a connected North and South America, commemorating the first Copa América held outside South America. Instead of the traditional wooden base holding the names of all past winners, the base of the Centenario commemorative trophy includes 16 zones, in which the names of all 16 nations are engraved. Other details include: The logos of both CONMEBOL and CONCACAF (the two confederations with representatives in the tournament), the years "1916–2016" (commemorating the 100 years of CONMEBOL and Copa América), and the phrases "La Copa del Siglo" ("The Cup of the Century") and "Uniting the Americas".[18]

Host selection edit

Luis Chiriboga, the President of the Ecuadorian Football Federation stated the United States and Mexico were potential hosts of at least one stage of the competition.[19] Hawit preferred the competition to be hosted in the United States for financial reasons, stating that "the market is in the United States, the stadiums are in the United States, the people are in the United States. The study that we have made [shows] that everything’s in the United States."[20] In July 2012, CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb stated there was much organizing to be done.[21]

On May 1, 2014, it was announced that the tournament would be held in the United States from June 3–26, 2016.[1][22][23]

The decision to select the US as a host was the object of criticism by Uruguay Football Association president Wilmar Valdez on June 7, 2016, who complained that the US is "a country where they don't feel football", which "brings about problems." The complaint was voiced after Uruguay's defeat against Mexico, in favor of whom, he said, the event was biased.[24] Just prior to the game itself, the Chilean anthem was mistakenly played instead of the Uruguayan anthem.[25]

Venues edit

On January 8, 2015, CONCACAF and CONMEBOL announced the 24 U.S. metropolitan areas which had indicated interest in hosting matches.[26][27]

The stadiums were chosen following a bidding process, with the minimum capacity to be 50,000. The final list of venues, anticipated to number between 8 and 13, was to be announced in May 2015. However, the list was not released and speculation regarding whether the tournament will be able to move forward arose because Interpol red notices were issued for the former presidents of the CONMEBOL and CONCACAF confederations in relation to the 2015 FIFA corruption case, including allegations that they accepted significant bribes in relation to the $112.5 million broadcasting deal for the event.[28] However, officials from CONMEBOL expressed a desire to move forward with the event despite the scandal.[29]

On November 19, 2015, the ten venues selected for the tournament were announced by CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, and US Soccer Federation.[30][31][32]

Los Angeles
(Pasadena, California)
New York
(East Rutherford, New Jersey)
Houston Philadelphia
Rose Bowl MetLife Stadium NRG Stadium Lincoln Financial Field
Capacity: 92,542 Capacity: 82,566 Capacity: 71,000 Capacity: 69,176
       
Boston
(Foxborough, Massachusetts)
San Francisco
(Santa Clara, California)
Gillette Stadium Levi's Stadium
Capacity: 68,756 Capacity: 68,500
   
Seattle Chicago Phoenix
(Glendale, Arizona)
Orlando
CenturyLink Field Soldier Field University of Phoenix Stadium Camping World Stadium
Capacity: 67,000 Capacity: 63,500 Capacity: 63,400 Capacity: 60,219
       

Participating teams edit

At the official announcement of the tournament, CONMEBOL and CONCACAF confirmed that all ten CONMEBOL members would be joined by six CONCACAF teams in the tournament. Among CONCACAF teams, the United States and Mexico automatically qualified. The other four spots were given to Costa Rica, the champions of the Central American Football Union by winning the 2014 Copa Centroamericana, Jamaica, the champions of the Caribbean Football Union by winning the 2014 Caribbean Cup, and Haiti and Panama, the two play-off winners among the four highest finishers in the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup not already qualified.[22]

CONMEBOL (10 teams) CONCACAF (6 teams)
*  Argentina
*  Bolivia
*  Brazil
*  Chile (title holders)
*  Colombia
*  Ecuador
*  Paraguay
*  Peru
*  Uruguay
*  Venezuela
*  United States (hosts and automatic qualifier)
*  Mexico (automatic qualifier)
*  Costa Rica (winners of 2014 Copa Centroamericana)
*  Jamaica (winners of 2014 Caribbean Cup)
*  Haiti (winners of Copa América Centenario qualifying play-offs)
*  Panama (winners of Copa América Centenario qualifying play-offs)

Draw edit

 
Map of the participant countries.

The group seeds and match schedule were announced on December 17, 2015.[33] The United States (Group A) were seeded as host, while Argentina (Group D) were seeded as the highest FIFA-ranked team in the CONMEBOL region during December 2015. According to Soccer United Marketing, Brazil (Group B) and Mexico (Group C) were seeded as they were "the most decorated nations in the last 100 years in international competitions from their respective confederations".[34] However, there was criticism for not including Uruguay, which won two World Cups and was the Copa América all-time leader with 15 championships, or Chile, which were the defending Copa América champions going into the tournament.[35][36]

The draw took place on February 21, 2016, at 7:30 pm EST, at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. Teams were seeded using the FIFA Ranking from December 2015.[37]

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4
  Argentina (1)
  Brazil (6)
  Mexico (22)
  United States (32) (hosts)
  Chile (3)
  Colombia (8)
  Uruguay (11)
  Ecuador (13)
  Costa Rica (37)
  Jamaica (54)
  Panama (64)
  Haiti (77)
  Paraguay (46)
  Peru (47)
  Bolivia (68)
  Venezuela (83)

The four group pots contained four positions each,[38] one from each group, as follows:

Pot 1 A1 B1 C1 D1
Pot 2 A2 B2 C2 D2
Pot 3 A3 B3 C3 D3
Pot 4 A4 B4 C4 D4

Squads edit

Each country had a final squad of 23 players (three of whom had to be goalkeepers) which had to be submitted before the deadline of May 20, 2016.[39]

Match officials edit

 
Héber Lopes was chosen as the referee for the final.
Country Referee Assistant referees Matches officiated
  Argentina Patricio Loustau Ezequiel Brailovsky
Ariel Mariano Scime
Costa Rica–Paraguay (Group A)
Uruguay–Venezuela (Group C)
Peru–Colombia (Quarter-finals)
  Bolivia Gery Vargas Javier Bustillos
Juan Pablo Montaño
Ecuador–Haiti (Group B)
  Brazil Héber Lopes Kléber Gil
Bruno Boschilia
Colombia–Paraguay (Group A)
Mexico–Chile (Quarter-finals)
Argentina–Chile (Final)
Wilton Sampaio   Gustavo Rossi
  Alexander Léon
Mexico–Jamaica (Group C)
  Chile Julio Bascuñán Carlos Astroza
Christian Schiemann
Brazil–Ecuador (Group B)
United States–Paraguay (Group A)
  Colombia Wilmar Roldán Alexander Guzmán
Wilmar Navarro
Ecuador–Peru (Group B)
United States–Ecuador (Quarter-finals)
Wilson Lamouroux Alexander Guzmán
  Corey Parker
Uruguay–Jamaica (Group C)
  Costa Rica Ricardo Montero Octavio Jara
Juan Mora
Panama–Bolivia (Group D)
  Cuba Yadel Martínez   Joe Fletcher
  Darío Gaona
Mexico–Venezuela (Group C)
  Ecuador Roddy Zambrano Luis Vera
Byron Romero
United States–Costa Rica (Group A)
Chile–Panama (Group D)
  El Salvador Joel Aguilar Juan Zumba
William Torres
Argentina–Panama (Group D)
Colombia–Chile (Semi-finals)
  Mexico Roberto García José Luis Camargo
Alberto Morín
United States–Colombia (Group A)
Argentina–Venezuela (Quarter-finals)
  Panama John Pitti Gabriel Victoria
  Cristian Ramírez
Haiti–Peru (Group B)
  Paraguay Enrique Cáceres Eduardo Cardozo
Milciades Saldívar
Mexico–Uruguay (Group C)
United States–Argentina (Semi-finals)
  Peru Víctor Carrillo Jorge Luis Yupanqui Namuche
Coty Carrera
Jamaica–Venezuela (Group C)
Argentina–Bolivia (Group D)
  United States Mark Geiger Charles Morgante
  Joe Fletcher
Brazil–Haiti (Group B)
Jair Marrufo Peter Manikowski
Corey Rockwell
Chile–Bolivia (Group D)
  Uruguay Daniel Fedorczuk Nicolás Taran
Richard Trinidad
Argentina–Chile (Group D)
United States–Colombia (Third place play-off)
Andrés Cunha Nicolás Taran
Richard Trinidad
Brazil–Peru (Group B)
  Venezuela José Argote Luis Murillo
Luis Alfonso Sánchez Pérez
Colombia–Costa Rica (Group A)

Opening ceremony edit

The opening ceremony of Copa América Centenario took place at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara 9:00 pm EDT (UTC−4) on June 3, 2016, ahead of the opening match and featured musical performances by Colombian singer J Balvin, American singer Jason Derulo and the Canadian band Magic![40]

Group stage edit

 
  Group stage
  Quarter-finals
  Fourth place
  Third place
  Runner-up
  Champion

All times are EDT (UTC−4). The top two teams from each group advanced to the quarter-finals.

Tiebreakers edit

The ranking of each team in each group was determined as follows:[39]

  1. Greatest number of points obtained in all group matches
  2. Goal difference in all group matches
  3. Greatest number of goals scored in all group matches
  4. If two or more teams were equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings would further be determined as follows:
    1. Greatest number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned
    2. Goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned
    3. Greater number of goals scored in all group matches between the teams concerned
    4. Drawing of lots

Group A edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   United States (H) 3 2 0 1 5 2 +3 6 Advance to knockout stage
2   Colombia 3 2 0 1 6 4 +2 6
3   Costa Rica 3 1 1 1 3 6 −3 4
4   Paraguay 3 0 1 2 1 3 −2 1
Source: CONMEBOL & CONCACAF
(H) Hosts
United States  0–2  Colombia
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)
Costa Rica  0–0  Paraguay
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)

United States  4–0  Costa Rica
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)
Attendance: 39,642[43]
Colombia  2–1  Paraguay
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)
Attendance: 42,766[44]
Referee: Héber Lopes (Brazil)

United States  1–0  Paraguay
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)
Colombia  2–3  Costa Rica
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)
Attendance: 45,808[46]

Group B edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Peru 3 2 1 0 4 2 +2 7 Advance to knockout stage
2   Ecuador 3 1 2 0 6 2 +4 5
3   Brazil 3 1 1 1 7 2 +5 4
4   Haiti 3 0 0 3 1 12 −11 0
Source: CONMEBOL & CONCACAF
Haiti  0–1  Peru
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)
Attendance: 20,190[47]
Referee: John Pitti (Panama)
Brazil  0–0  Ecuador
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)
Attendance: 53,158[48]

Brazil  7–1  Haiti
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)
Ecuador  2–2  Peru
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)

Ecuador  4–0  Haiti
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)
Brazil  0–1  Peru
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)

Group C edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Mexico 3 2 1 0 6 2 +4 7 Advance to knockout stage
2   Venezuela 3 2 1 0 3 1 +2 7
3   Uruguay 3 1 0 2 4 4 0 3
4   Jamaica 3 0 0 3 0 6 −6 0
Source: CONMEBOL & CONCACAF
Jamaica  0–1  Venezuela
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)
Attendance: 25,560[53]
Mexico  3–1  Uruguay
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)

Uruguay  0–1  Venezuela
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)
Mexico  2–0  Jamaica
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)
Attendance: 83,263[56]

Mexico  1–1  Venezuela
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)
Attendance: 67,319[57]
Referee: Yadel Martínez (Cuba)
Uruguay  3–0  Jamaica
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)
Attendance: 40,166[58]
Referee: Wilson Lamouroux (Colombia)

Group D edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Argentina 3 3 0 0 10 1 +9 9 Advance to knockout stage
2   Chile 3 2 0 1 7 5 +2 6
3   Panama 3 1 0 2 4 10 −6 3
4   Bolivia 3 0 0 3 2 7 −5 0
Source: CONMEBOL & CONCACAF
Panama  2–1  Bolivia
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)
Argentina  2–1  Chile
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)

Chile  2–1  Bolivia
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)
Argentina  5–0  Panama
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)
Attendance: 53,885[62]

Chile  4–2  Panama
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)
Argentina  3–0  Bolivia
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)
Attendance: 45,753[64]

Knockout stage edit

In the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and third place match of the knockout stage, a penalty shoot-out was used to decide the winner if tied after 90 minutes. In the final, extra time and a penalty shoot-out was used to decide the winner if necessary.[39] Should the final enter extra time, a fourth substitute would be allowed as part of FIFA's approval of rule changes based on IFAB's new regulations, however neither teams in the final ended up taking advantage of this rule.[65]

Bracket edit

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
June 16 – Seattle
 
 
  United States2
 
June 21 – Houston
 
  Ecuador1
 
  United States0
 
June 18 – Foxborough
 
  Argentina4
 
  Argentina4
 
June 26 – East Rutherford
 
  Venezuela1
 
  Argentina0 (2)
 
June 17 – East Rutherford
 
  Chile (p)0 (4)
 
  Peru0 (2)
 
June 22 – Chicago
 
  Colombia (p)0 (4)
 
  Colombia0
 
June 18 – Santa Clara
 
  Chile2 Third place play-off
 
  Mexico0
 
June 25 – Glendale
 
  Chile7
 
  United States0
 
 
  Colombia1
 

Quarter-finals edit

United States  2–1  Ecuador
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)

Peru  0–0  Colombia
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)
Penalties
2–4

Argentina  4–1  Venezuela
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)

Mexico  0–7  Chile
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)
Attendance: 70,547[69]
Referee: Héber Lopes (Brazil)

Semi-finals edit

United States  0–4  Argentina
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)
Attendance: 70,858[70]

Colombia  0–2  Chile
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)
Attendance: 55,423[71]

Third place play-off edit

United States  0–1  Colombia
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)

Final edit

Argentina  0–0  Chile
Report (CONMEBOL)
Report (CONCACAF)
Penalties
2–4

Statistics edit

Goalscorers edit

Chile's Eduardo Vargas received the Golden Boot award for scoring six goals. In total, 91 goals were scored by 62 different players, with three of them credited as own goals.

 
Eduardo Vargas, top scorer
6 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal

Awards edit

Winners edit

 2016 Copa América Centenario champions 
 
Chile

2nd title

Individual awards edit

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament.[74]

Final Man of the Match Award edit

Team of the Tournament edit

The Technical Study Group announced the tournament's Best XI squad.[74]

Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards

  Claudio Bravo

  Mauricio Isla
  Nicolás Otamendi
  Gary Medel
  Jean Beausejour

  Javier Mascherano
  Arturo Vidal
  Charles Aránguiz

  Lionel Messi
  Eduardo Vargas
  Alexis Sánchez

Marketing edit

Sponsorship edit

Sponsors

Match ball edit

The Nike Ordem Ciento was announced as the official Copa América Centenario match ball on February 21, 2016. The mainly white ball has red brush stroke decoration. It shows the official Copa América Centenario logo.[75][76]

The Nike Ordem Campeón was used for the final match, in which golden brushes replaced the red ones.[77]

Theme songs edit

  • "Superstar" by American rapper Pitbull featuring Becky G is the official song of the tournament and both artists performed the song during the Final.[78]
  • "Breaking All the Rules" by English rock musician Peter Frampton, who performed the song during the Final.
  • "In My City" by Indian Singer Priyanka Chopra, who also performed the song during the Final.

Broadcasting rights edit

CONMEBOL and CONCACAF edit

Country Broadcaster Ref.
  Latin America DirecTV Sports
  Argentina Televisión Pública Argentina (Argentina matches only), TyC Sports (all matches)
  Bolivia TV Boliviana (all matches)
  Brazil Rede Globo (Brazil matches only), SporTV (all matches) [16]
  Canada Univision Canada (Spanish) [79]
  Chile Canal 13
  Colombia RCN TV, Caracol TV
  Costa Rica Repretel, Teletica [80]
  Cuba Cubavision International
  Ecuador Gama TV
  Haiti CONATEL, Tele Haiti [81]
  Jamaica CVM TV
  Mexico Televisa, TV Azteca [16]
  Panama Telemetro, TVMax, RPC-TV [81]
  Paraguay Paraguay TV, Unicanal [82]
  Peru América Televisión
  United States of America Fox Sports (English); Univision (Spanish) [83][84]
  Uruguay DirecTV, Equital (Monte Cable, Nuevo Siglo, TCC) [85]
  Venezuela Meridiano TV

Rest of the world edit

Country Broadcaster Ref.
Arab World beIN Sports
  Australia beIN Sports, SBS [86]
  Azerbaijan CBC Sport
Western Balkans Arena Sport
Baltics Viasat Sport Baltic [87][88][89]
  China SMG, LeSports, PPTV, QQLive
  Equatorial Guinea RTVGE, Asonga TV, Canal+ [90]
  Finland Viasat
  France beIN Sports [91]
  Germany Sat.1, Kabel eins [92]
  Greece Skai TV [93]
  Hong Kong now TV, ViuTV [94]
  Hungary Sport TV
  Iceland Stöð 2 Sport
  India Sony ESPN, Sony ESPN HD
  Indonesia Kompas TV [95]
  Iran IRIB Varzesh
  Ireland Setanta Ireland [96]
  Israel Sport 1
  Italy Sky Italia [97]
  Japan SKY PerfecTV! [98]
  Kenya Startimes, Canal+ [90]
  Malaysia Astro
  Myanmar Sky Net
  Netherlands Fox Sports Netherlands, NOS [99]
  New Zealand Sky Sport [100]
  Nigeria Startimes, Canal+ [90]
  Norway Viaplay [101]
  Poland TVP [102]
  Portugal TVI [103]
  Russia Match TV
  Singapore StarHub TV, Singtel TV [104]
  South Africa Startimes
  South Korea KBS
  Spain Movistar+ [105]
Sub-Saharan Africa Startimes, Canal+ [90]
  Sweden Viasat Sport [106]
  Taiwan CTV, TTV, CTi TV
  Tajikistan TV Varzish
  Thailand True Visions
  Turkey A Spor, A Haber
  United Kingdom Premier Sports [107]
  Vietnam SCTV, VTVCab [108]

Controversies edit

National anthems, country names, and flags edit

On June 5, during the pre-match ceremony between Mexico and Uruguay, the national anthem of Chile was played for Uruguay. Many Uruguayan players seemed confused. The correct anthem was never played. Copa América organizers released the following statement via Twitter:

This evening during the pre-match ceremony, due to human error, we inadvertently played the incorrect National Anthem [sic]. We sincerely apologize to the Uruguayan Federation, the Uruguay National Team, the people of Uruguay and to the fans for this mistake. We will work with all parties involved to ensure such an error this does not occur again.

Uruguayan midfielder Diego Fagúndez said the incident showed "much disrespect".[109]

On June 6, Colombian nationals heavily criticized Adidas for misspelling the country name in an advertisement, substituting "Columbia" for "Colombia". The company said in a statement: "We value our partnership with the Colombian Football Federation and apologize for our mistake. We removed the graphics and are quickly installing new versions."[110]

Also on June 6, before the game between Panama and Bolivia, the video screens of the Citrus Bowl in Orlando displayed the flags of both countries, but Bolivia's was inverted.[111]

Match officiating edit

On June 4, during the game between Ecuador and Brazil, the assistant referee called the ball out prior to a cross that led to the ball going into the net for Ecuador. Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson dropped the ball, and it went over the line into his own goal. The replays seemed to show the ball was not completely out of bounds before being crossed, but the goal did not stand. The match ended in a 0–0 draw.[112]

On June 10, during the game between Chile and Bolivia, a penalty kick was awarded to Chile after Luis Alberto Gutiérrez was whistled for a handball. The assistant referee made the call, but it appeared that Gutiérrez had tucked his arm behind his back, and the ball hit off his shoulder. Arturo Vidal converted the ensuing penalty at the 90'+10' mark (eight minutes of stoppage time were added to the second half due to an injury to Ronald Eguino)[113][114] to secure the three points for Chile.[115]

On June 12, during the game between Peru and Brazil, Raúl Ruidíaz scored by guiding the ball into the net with his arm. After a lengthy discussion between the referee and his assistant, the goal was allowed to stand, and Brazil went on to lose 1–0, resulting in their elimination from the tournament. However, Raúl Ruidíaz claimed the ball hit his thigh rather than his hand and said the goal was 'thanks to God' rather than another hand of God.[116]

Ticket pricing edit

The tournament's organizers have been criticized for setting high ticket prices that have resulted in under-capacity crowds in Seattle and Chicago for United States matches.[117] The average price for a sold ticket during the group stage was $144; some matches saw average prices as high as $236 and as low as $37.[118]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "CONCACAF and CONMEBOL Announce Agreement to Bring Copa America 2016 to the United States". CONCACAF.com. CONCACAF. May 1, 2014. Archived from the original on June 28, 2019. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
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External links edit