The Copa America in Brazil is a surprise, as assesses the international press

Le Monde (France), The Guardian (UK) and The New York Times (USA) on Monday (31) reversed the decision by CONMEBOL to transfer the Copa America contract to Brazil, amid an outbreak of a pandemic. The health crisis forced neighboring countries to cancel the tournament itself, despite its financial importance.

French site the world Highlights the discontent of South American players over the establishment of the Copa America in Brazil. The newspaper pointed out that “Brazil has recorded more than 460,000 deaths due to the Covid-19 virus, and epidemiologists fear a third wave of infection. In this context, some international players have expressed their opposition to holding the tournament.”

“I admire the fact that the Copa America will be played in spite of the current situation,” Uruguayan Luis Suarez said in an interview with French today evening. His compatriot, Edinson Cavani, also condemned the decision. Le Monde newspaper publishes: “It is a terrible irresponsibility to do everything to play the Copa America. Nothing about the social situation matters here, not even the risks associated with the virus.”

The French newspaper also highlighted the testimony of MP Marcelo Frixo (Bassoul) on Twitter. “Argentina rejected the Copa America due to the worsening of the epidemic. There, the moving average of deaths in the past seven days was 470 people … Here, it was 1844. Four times greater. This is a picture of a fatal government,” Le Monde newspaper publishes, reproducing a tweet Freixo.

The newspaper also notes, “This will be the sixth time that Brazil has hosted the Copa America, a competition in which it won every time it plays on its soil (1919, 1922, 1949, 1989 and 2019). He won the tournament for the ninth time by defeating Peru (3). -1) in the final. “

“amazing”

According to Britain’s Guardian newspaper, CONMEBOL’s decision to stage the tournament in Brazil is “surprising”. “The country has one of the highest rates of Covid-19 deaths in the world, with more than 400,000 deaths. Demonstrations were held across the country to demand the dismissal of the president, Jair BolsonaroFor his method of dealing with the crisis, “he wrote.

The Guardian notes that Gonzalo Peloso, Secretary-General of CONMEBOL, said last week that the organization had spoken to Chilean officials with the aim of hosting some games in the country. The British newspaper analyzes that “the organizers are reluctant to cancel the tournament due to its financial importance.”

“The 2019 Copa America earned 118 million US dollars (616 million Brazilian reals) and was the second largest source of annual revenue for the Union after the Copa Libertadores, equivalent to the European Champions League,” the bulletin said on its website.

“The Brazilian President Mocked the Lockdowns”

The New York Times reported that “Brazil, where the number of new cases has decreased recently, but remains high, has seen more deaths from Covid-19 than any other country except India and the United States.” According to the newspaper, “its president, Jair Bolsonaro, has repeatedly ridiculed the closures, the use of masks and other measures, and ignored health experts’ guidelines to deal with the pandemic, “puts the publication in context.

Then the Times stressed the difference with Argentina, as “the 2020 Copa America was postponed for a year last spring, after the epidemic began.”

In Argentina, “crazed by football, the country that last hosted the event in 2011, the Copa America was seen as an occasion to welcome some of the sport’s biggest stars, including Lionel Messi himself. But the tournament transfer requests, which usually happen.” Every four years, elsewhere, it has increased in recent weeks, with opponents on Twitter using the hashtags #NoALaCopaAmericaEnArgentina and #NoToTheCopaAmericaInArgentina, “he also posts.