Colombia soccer chief and son arrested at Copa America final
The father and son accused of fighting with security guards at Miami stadium and were among 27 people arrested
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The president of the Colombian Football Federation was arrested with adult son during the chaotic Copa America final this weekend.
Ramón Jesurún, 71, and his son Ramón Jamil Jesurún, 43, were arrested on three charges of battery on a specified official or employee, in the early hours of Monday. This was later dropped to two charges for both men. The younger Jesurún is facing an additional misdemeanor battery charge.
The father and son are accused of fighting with security guards during wild scenes at the Hard Rock Stadium. The chaos led to the match between Colombia and Argentina being delayed by more than 80 minutes.
After the game ended, security guards were holding people back from a tunnel where media had gathered at around 12:20 a.m. on Monday.
According to Miami-Dade Police Department arrest reports seen by The Independent, the father and son “became irate” and began shouting at a guard. The altercation became physical after a security guard asked the men to step back, and placed a palm on the younger Jesurún’s chest to “guide him back”, according to the report.
The elder Jesurún stepped forward to push the guard, according to police, then his son grabbed the guard’s neck and punched him. The guard, was hospitalised following the incident. The men are accused of then fighting with other security guards.
The two men were booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami, at around 4:15am on Monday.
A spokesperson for The Colombian Football Federation provided a press release. “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.”
The senior Jesurún has been a member of the FIFA Council since 2016 and is also vice president of CONMEBOL, South America’s governing body for soccer. CONMEBOL organized Copa America.
Jesurún Jr describes himself as a “motivator” and “speaker” on Instagram. He is the founder of Fütness Worldwide, a company dedicated to sports training, based in the US.
A lack of crowd control and trespassing prompted chaos at the Copa America final, which Argentina won 1-0. The game was delayed more than 80 minutes as police offices lost control of the crowds and stopped letting ticketholders into the stadium.
Thousands of fans turned up without tickets and attempted to force their way into the stadium - with some even trying to climb through air vents.
According to a press release from the Miami-Dade Police Department, 27 people were arrested and 55 people were ejected from the match.
“Throughout the afternoon and evening, there were numerous attempts by unruly fans without tickets to overpower security and law enforcement personnel at entry points to the stadium, putting themselves, other fans and security and stadium staff at extreme risk,” said the Hard Rock Stadium in a statement released on Sunday.
There appeared to be significant damage to the stadium following the match.
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.