Bielsa: “In the country of Fifagate, now we have to blame the players”

Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa has criticised the possibility of punishing his players for fighting in the stands following their Copa America semi-final defeat to Colombia after their family members were attacked.

“The United States, when they felt that their interests were being attacked, created ‘Fifagate’, with the FBI, they did what they did, but it was for their interests. Here [na Copa América] nothing happened: the fields, it was an extraordinary party, full stadiums, competitiveness, refereeing, there is nothing to complain about”, Bielsa joked when questioning the organization of the competition in a press conference this Friday, the eve of Uruguay’s game against Canada for third place in the continental tournament.

“In a country that was capable of Fifagate, now we find out that we have to blame the players,” criticized the coach.

Fifagate revealed a corruption scandal in 2015 that involved important leaders of world football, including names from Conmebol and Concacaf, who were prosecuted in the United States.

🫡 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞

Let’s go back to training for Saturday’s game. #TheTeamThatUnitesUs pic.twitter.com/6W9HO9q67B

— Uruguayan National Team (@Uruguay) July 12, 2024

Conmebol announced on Friday that it had opened disciplinary proceedings to establish “responsibilities”, describing the incident as “unacceptable”.

The entity, organizer of the Copa América, did not give further details, but according to the press ten Uruguayan players are being investigated, among them Darwin Núñez, Federico Valverde and José María Giménez.

“The players reacted like any human being,” Bielsa said. “If you see that there is a process to prevent what happened, if you see that there is a process to mitigate it, that is, an escape valve, and both things do not happen and they are attacking their wife, their mother, a baby, their sister, what do they do? Are they going to punish those who went to defend them?” he asked.

Uruguayan players reported that their families were attacked by Colombian fans after the semi-final at Bank Of America Stadium in Charlotte (North Carolina).