Sunday’s Copa America Final devolved into chaos before the match even got underway and the wild night ended with the arrest of Ramón Jesurún. The 71-year-old president of the Colombian Football Federation went to jail with his 43-year-old son.
It is not a great look for Colombian soccer, CONMEBOL or FIFA.
Jesurún was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami just after 4:15 a.m. on Monday. He is facing three felony counts of battery on a specified official or employee!
Hard Rock Stadium played host to Colombia and Argentina on Sunday night. A massive crowd breached the gates prior to kickoff and created a truly ugly scene. Fans even tried to get into the stadium through the air vents. There was no control. There was no order.
Global soccer fans tried to blame the United States for the failure. However, blame falls entirely on CONMEBOL (the South American soccer confederation), of which Jesurún is a vice president. He also serves on the FIFA Council, a “strategic and oversight body” for soccer’s global governing body.
According to the Miami-Dade Police Department arrest report, Jesurún was involved in a physical altercation outside of a tunnel where media was gathering. It took place around 12:20 a.m. after Colombia lost to Argentina in extra time.
Both father and son “became irate” and started to shout at a security guard. The altercation quickly escalated from there and got physical when a different security guard asked them to step back. He placed his hand on the younger Jesurún’s chest to “guide him back.”
At that point, Colombian soccer president allegedly stepped forward and pushed the guard. His son then grabbed the guard’s neck and punched him, according to the report. Both men are accused of fighting the officers who tried to break up the incident. Video posted by Fox Sports MX allegedly shows the fight.
The chaos at Sunday night’s Copa America Final was a bad look for CONMEBOL and an even worse look for Ramón Jesurún.