June 9 – Brazil’s national team have said they are against the hosting of the Copa America in their country – some players for professional reasons, others for humanitarians reasons – but have confirmed that they will participate in the tournament that was switched to Brazil at the eleventh hour.
The Brazilian squad issued a statement following their 2-0 win over Paraguay last night (Tuesday) in World Cup qualifying. They are next in action this Sunday in the opening game of the Copa America against Venezuela in the nation’s capital, Brasilia.
On May 31, Conmebol shifted the continental finals to Brazil after stripping both Argentina and Colombia from the hosting rights, but that last-minute decision was taken at a political level without consultation of the Seleção, causing friction between the CBF hierarchy and its players and back-room staff.
Some players were reportedly reluctant to participate because of Brazil’s disastrous handling of the pandemic.
“For different reasons, be they humanitarian or professional, we are not satisfied with the way the Copa America has been handled by Conmebol,” said the players in their statement.
“All the recent facts lead us to believe in an inadequate process in realising (the tournament).”
The players may not have been “satisfied” with the way the ruling body handled the organisation, but said that they never considered a boycott. They also never wanted to politicise their opposition to the tournament. Brazil’s controversial president Jair Bolsonaro greenlighted the organisation of the tournament, despite Brazil recording more than 475,000 deaths from Covid-19. The team’s lodestar Neymar is one of the players close to Bolsonaro.
“We are against the organisation of the Copa America but we will never say no to playing for Brazil,” read the statement.
Brazil maintained a perfect record in World Cup qualifying with the win over Paraguay and have 18 points from six matches. They are the Copa America defending champions, having won the tournament on home soil as well in 2019.
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