Soccer Officials Arrested After Melee That Damaged Hard Rock Stadium in Miami

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Colombia’s soccer federation president and his son were among 27 people arrested during the crowd control issues that broke out at the Copa America final between Argentina and Colombia, a melee that may have caused significant damage to Hard Rock Stadium.

Ramón Jesurún, 71, and his son Ramon Jamil Jesurún were detained and charged after the event Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami-Dade police detective Andre Martin told The Associated Press.

Both men are facing three counts of felony battery on an official after being accused of fighting multiple stadium security guards. They were released from custody on Monday.

Arrest records said both men tried to go onto the field through a tunnel where media was gathering after the match. They were stopped by security, and the police report said they “became irate” at the delay. A verbal altercation eventually turned physical with a guard placing an “open palm” on Ramon Jamil Jesurún’s chest to “guide him back” and the younger Jesurún grabbing the guard “around his neck” and pulling him to the ground before throwing “two punches that impacted” the guard, the report said. The two men were placed into custody after midnight.

The federation said in a statement Tuesday that stadium security kept most of the Colombian delegation from going on the field for the awards ceremony. The federation said the elder Jesurún moved forward to intervene after his son was restrained by security.

“As the governing body of Colombian football, we regret what happened and offer apologies to the organizers, the host country and the people who were affected,” the statement said in Spanish. “For his part, President Jesurún regrets the events, which should never have occurred and which were the result of his paternal instinct to protect his son and his family.”

Ramón Jesurún has been president of the Colombian soccer federation since 2015 and is a vice president of CONMEBOL, South American soccer’s governing organization that puts the Copa America tournament together.

The organization said in a statement it was disappointed about the scene in which countless fans entered the stadium without tickets and “tarnished” the event. The game was delayed for more than an hour as authorities worked to control the situation, eventually deciding to let some fans in without going through security checkpoints.

“In this situation, CONMEBOL was subject to the decisions made by the Hard Rock Stadium authorities, according to the contractual responsibilities established for security operations,” the organization said. “In addition to the preparations determined in this contract, CONMEBOL recommended to these authorities the procedures proven in events of this magnitude, which were NOT taken into account.”

Hard Rock Stadium — the site of 2026 World Cup matches — said security was a shared responsibility among its stadium officials, the organization, CONCACAF (the governing body that oversees soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean) and local police. The Sun Sentinel newspaper reported that the Miami Dolphins, the NFL team that plays at the stadium, was assessing damage to the structure.

Videos posted on social media showed fans crawling through a ventilation system to gain access to the stadium.

Miami-Dade police said more than 800 law enforcement officers were at the match. In addition to the arrests, 55 people were ejected, they said.

It was a chaotic scene just hours before the scheduled 8 p.m. start of the championship match between the two South American countries: Fans forced their way in and jumped over security railings and ran past police officers and stadium attendants, some appearing hysterical as they searched for the people they arrived with.

There appeared to be significant damage to the venue as a result. Video and images posted to social media showed the shattered side railings of an escalator inside the stadium, with shoes, soda cans, reading glasses and articles of clothing left behind. Security railings at a checkpoint in the southwest entrance to the stadium were bent over as thousands of people, including crying children, pushed against them.

The Hard Rock Stadium release said stadium officials communicated with tournament organizers around 8 p.m. and decided to open the gates to both ticketed and unticketed fans who were thrust against the entrance in fear of stampedes and serious injuries. The gates were then closed with many ticketed fans left outside.

The stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, which is home to the NFL’s Dolphins, will be the site of seven World Cup matches in 2026, including a quarterfinal and third-place match.

FIFA organizes the World Cup and is a different organization from CONMEBOL. FIFA is an international federation that oversees more than 200 affiliated associations under regional bodies like CONMEBOL.

Ramón Jesurún is a member of the FIFA Council.

FIFA did not immediately respond Monday to the AP’s request for comment on the crowd control issues and how it would prevent similar problems in 2026.

Attorney Steve Adelman, a crowd control expert and vice president of the Event Safety Alliance, said Hard Rock organizers failed to understand that Sunday’s game would bring out passionate fans desperate to see their teams, some willing to force their way inside.

“A match between fans of two rival South American nations is about as passionate as you’re going to get,” he said.

Adelman said organizers should have learned from the 2021 European Championship final at London’s Wembley Stadium, where ticketless England fans forced their way inside for their team’s match with Italy. The melee injured 19 police officers and resulted in 53 arrests.

“Unfortunately, international soccer matches have been marked by this sort of aggressive supporter behavior,” Adelman said. “This behavior is not desirable, it’s not good, but it is reasonably foreseeable. … They needed to plan for the crowd they were likely to have, not the crowd they wished they had.”

Photo: Fans wait to enter the stadium prior to the Copa America final soccer match between Argentina and Colombia in Miami Gardens, Fla., Sunday, July 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

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Associated Press writers Terry Spencer, Astrid Suarez and Gisela Salomon contributed to this report.