Uruguayan FA chief speaks out after frightening Copa America scenes involving Darwin Nunez

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·11 July 2024

Uruguayan FA chief speaks out after frightening Copa America scenes involving Darwin Nunez

The president of the Uruguayan Football Association (AUF) has spoken out following the frightening scenes involving Darwin Nunez after the country’s Copa America semi-final defeat to Colombia overnight.

The 1-0 scoreline paled into insignificance after a mass brawl erupted in the stands, with cameras capturing the Liverpool striker climbing into the fray as he sought to protect his family, who were in close proximity to the disorder.

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Speaking after the crowd trouble in Charlotte, Ignacio Alonso said (via ESPN): “The Uruguayan players had an instinctive, natural reaction, which was to defend the children who were being attacked, their wives, parents, siblings. It was a natural, instinctive reaction that was rational given the events that were taking place.”

Alonso is right to defend the reaction from Nunez and his Uruguay teammates to the trouble which had erupted in the stands.

When the players were witnessing their families’ safety being compromised by the loutish actions of some Colombian spectators, it’s only natural that they’d jump straight in and confront the perpetrators, rather than idly standing by and waiting for the chaos to diminish.

There was footage of the Liverpool striker holding his infant son after leading him away from the violence, with an understandable look of fear written across both of their faces, and it was clear how much the disorder affected them.

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The Mirror mentioned that Nunez could now face a ‘significant ban’ for taking matters into his own hands in Charlotte, which’d be farcical from the authorities considering the circumstances in which his paternal instincts took over.

Rather, the tournament organisers should be asking themselves why security was so lax at the stadium that the Uruguay players felt a compulson to step in and intervene.

The scenes which marred the fixture in North Carolina are those we never want to see at a football match, or in society as a whole. We just hope that those who were innocently caught up in the chaos won’t suffer any lasting effects from what happened.

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