Colombia鈥檚 soccer federation president and his son were among 27 people arrested during the that broke out Sunday at the Copa America final between , police said Monday.
Ram贸n Jesur煤n and his son Ramon Jamil Jesurun were detained after the event at Hard Rock Stadium and charged, Miami-Dade police detective Andre Martin told The Associated Press.
Both men are facing three counts of felony battery on an official after being accused of fighting multiple stadium security guards. Arrest records said both men tried to go onto the field through a tunnel where media was gathering after the match. They were stopped by security, and the police report said they "became irate鈥� at the delay. A verbal altercation eventually turned physical with a guard placing an 鈥渙pen palm鈥� on Ramon Jamil Jesurun's chest to 鈥済uide him back鈥� and the younger Jesurun grabbing the guard 鈥渁round his neck鈥� and pulling him to the ground before throwing 鈥渢wo punches that impacted鈥� the guard, the report said. The two men were placed into custody after midnight.
Colombia's soccer federation didn鈥檛 immediately respond Monday to a request for comment from the AP.
Ram贸n Jesur煤n, 71, has been president of the Colombian soccer federation since 2015 and is a vice president of CONMEBOL, South American soccer's governing body that organizes the Copa America tournament.
In a statement released Monday, the organization said it regrets the scene in which countless fans entered the stadium without tickets and 鈥渢arnished鈥� the event. The as authorities worked to control the situation, eventually deciding to let some fans in without going through security checkpoints.
READ MORE: Chaos at Hard Rock Stadium as fans breach security gates ahead of Copa America final
鈥淚n this situation, CONMEBOL was subject to the decisions made by the Hard Rock Stadium authorities, according to the contractual responsibilities established for security operations,鈥� the organization said. "In addition to the preparations determined in this contract, CONMEBOL recommended to these authorities the procedures proven in events of this magnitude, which were NOT taken into account."
Hard Rock Stadium 鈥� the site of 2026 World Cup matches 鈥� said security was a shared responsibility among its stadium officials, the organization, CONCACAF (the governing body that oversees soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean) and local police.
鈥淢ore than double the personnel鈥� used for a typical event were onsite Sunday, a stadium spokesperson said in a news release.
Miami-Dade police said more than 800 law enforcement officers were at the match. In addition to the arrests, 55 people were ejected, they said.
It was a chaotic scene just hours before the scheduled 8 p.m. start of the : Fans forced their way in and jumped over security railings and ran past police officers and stadium attendants, some appearing hysterical as they searched for the people they arrived with.
There appeared to be significant damage to the venue as a result. Video and images posted to social media showed the shattered side railings of an escalator inside the stadium, with shoes, soda cans, reading glasses and articles of clothing left behind. Security railings at a checkpoint in the southwest entrance to the stadium were bent over as thousands of people, including crying children, pushed against them.
The Hard Rock Stadium release said stadium officials communicated with tournament organizers around 8 p.m. and decided to open the gates to both ticketed and unticketed fans who were thrust against the entrance in fear of stampedes and serious injuries. The gates were then closed with many ticketed fans left outside.
The stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, which is home to the NFL鈥檚 Dolphins, will be the site of seven World Cup matches in 2026, including a quarterfinal and third-place match.
FIFA organizes the World Cup and is a different organization from CONMEBOL. FIFA is an international federation that oversees more than 200 affiliated associations under regional bodies like CONMEBOL.
Ram贸n Jesur煤n is also .
FIFA did not immediately respond Monday to the AP鈥檚 request for comment on the crowd control issues and how it would prevent similar problems in 2026.
Attorney Steve Adelman, a crowd control expert and vice president of the Event Safety Alliance, said Hard Rock organizers failed to understand that Sunday鈥檚 game would bring out passionate fans desperate to see their teams, some willing to force their way inside.
鈥淎 match between fans of two rival South American nations is about as passionate as you鈥檙e going to get,鈥� he said.
Adelman said organizers should have learned from the 2021 European Championship final at London鈥檚 Wembley Stadium, where ticketless England fans forced their way inside for their team鈥檚 match with Italy. The melee injured 19 police officers and resulted in 53 arrests.
鈥淯nfortunately, international soccer matches have been marked by this sort of aggressive supporter behavior,鈥� Adelman said. 鈥淭his behavior is not desirable, it鈥檚 not good, but it is reasonably foreseeable. ... They needed to plan for the crowd they were likely to have, not the crowd they wished they had.鈥�
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Associated Press writers Terry Spencer, Astrid Suarez and Gisela Salomon contributed to this report.
