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Alberto Fernandez president of Argentina.
In the last hours, the Copa America is going through some critical moments. This tournament has already gone through several stumbles due to the pandemic. It is part of the reality of South America as this region is very complicated by what is happening at the socio-political level. One of these countries is Argentina.
Argentina is going through a critical time where it is above 100,000 weekly cases of coronavirus forcing President Alberto Fernandez to take restrictive measures in the face of overwhelm and saturation of the health system. In the middle, there is Argentine football, which still continues and the highest national team competition, the Copa America, which the president questioned whether the contagions continue.
If things continue like this, they may have to look for a last minute replacement or Colombia would be the exclusive venue for the tournament. This news just came out when CONMEBOL confirmed that the prizes for the selections would be increased for this edition.
CONMEBOL increases the prize for the CONMEBOL champion @CopaAmerica
More info đź”— https://t.co/al7uQTnlim#CreeEnGrande pic.twitter.com/Z7mnoHaLqj
– CONMEBOL Media (@ConmebolMedia) April 16, 2021
Fernandez also confirmed that face-to-face classes have been canceled in schools due to an increase in cases in recent days in the southern country.
The wave of contagion in Argentine football
This Friday, Nicolás Russo, president of Lanús and strongman of the AFA spoke about the growing number of infections and the possibility of a parade in the current competition. “It would be very difficult to stop football today, but no one can assure anything in the future,” the leader said, leaving the door open for the chance to make that determination if the situation worsens.
This interview took place just before a rescheduling of matches made by the Argentine Football Association after the adjustments made in national government, thus preventing some matches from being played at night in the City of Buenos Aires. .
“All this worries me, I see objectively what is happening with the Argentine teams. I see what is happening in the nurseries and they have not left Argentina, eh. The contagions are repeated. It is nothing but a product of being part of a society where infections simply increase. “
In addition, Russo mentioned that there was less care and loosened compliance with established protocols, therefore, within Argentine football there were major outbreaks within the teams. “Football has the ability to test two or three times a week, but it must be acknowledged that there was a relaxation,” Russo said in an interview with Continental Football.
In this note the director also warned that the high number of tests influenced so many cases to be detected: “The tests are paid by the clubs, not the state. There are activities that can do it and others that do not. “A factory cannot swap every two or three days.”
For now, CONMEBOL has not spoken in this regard, although President Alejandro DomĂnguez has already hinted at the intentions of his organization. In an interview with ESPN Argentina, DomĂnguez spoke about it: “The Copa America is with or without an audience. We will try to achieve it and we depend on it and we are respectful of the health policy of each of the two countries, but the intention discussed with Minister Lammens and also with Minister Lucena of the sport of Colombia is that we have at least 30% of the stadiums with public “
The Copa America opens on June 13 at the Monumental Stadium in Nunez.
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