October 25 – The horror stories from the disaster that was the Copa America final between Colombia and eventual winners, Argentina continue to emerge as lawsuits, and court records are released into the public domain.
It has been over three months since the world watched parents, children, and security fight their way to safety as a crushing crowd of ticketed and ticketless fans tried to make their way into the Hard Rock Stadium for the showpiece event.
The number of legal claims against the organisers, Conmebol and the stadium’s security staff, ironically called BEST Crowd Management Inc, continues to grow.
Civil suits have been filed in Miami-Dade County and also at the federal level including at least one criminal case, lodged against the son of the Colombian Football Federation’s president.
While Conmebol and the Hard Rock Stadium had hoped the event could be swept under the carpet and dealt with outside of the courts, the civil lawsuits keep coming.
Many of the cases detail injuries fans suffered in the crush. One, filed by Isabel Quintero against Hard Rock, Conmebol and Concacaf, was amended last week to include an additional 15 plaintiffs. Erika Rodriguez, the mother of an unnamed child described as having been on a collapsed escalator. Robert Capo says he was “violently hit, slammed and dragged … on the ground” by an unidentified man. At least four separate class actions initially filed in county court have since moved to the federal system.
Attorneys for these Copa America cases filed several motions to voluntarily dismiss their cases without prejudice on Monday and court records show they will file an amended complaint by Wednesday formally pooling their resources.
With the Hard Rock Stadium set to become a major player in FIFA’s conquest of America, hosting the opening game of next summer’s Club World Cup, along with multiple matches in the World Cup proper, questions are still being asked about the suitability of the venue.
Last week, FIFA president Gianni Infantino, was at Inter Miami’s match in the MLS and proclaimed: “Miami loves football. The world loves football and the world loves Miami.” One wonders if Infantino would have had the same response if he’d witnessed the carnage in July?
Contact the writer of this story, Nick Webster, at moc.l1732268800labto1732268800ofdlr1732268800owedi1732268800sni@o1732268800fni1732268800