MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The president of the Colombian Football Federation and his son Crowd control issues It happened during the Copa America final Argentina and ColombiaPolice announced this on Monday.
Ramon Jesuran, 71, and his son, Ramon Jamil Jesuran, were detained and charged after Sunday’s incident at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami-Dade police Detective Andre Martin told The Associated Press.
Both men were charged with three counts of felony assault on an umpire following an alleged fight with several stadium security guards. They were released on Monday.
According to arrest records, both men were trying to enter the field after the game through the tunnel where media had gathered. They were stopped by security and, according to the police report, “became infuriated” by the delay. The argument eventually escalated into a physical altercation, when the security officer “slapped” Ramon Jamil Jesulun in the chest and “steered” him away, after which the younger Jesulun grabbed the guard “around the neck,” pulled him to the ground and “fired two punches,” striking the guard, the report said. The men were taken into custody just after midnight.
The federation said in a statement on Tuesday that stadium security had prevented most of the Colombian delegation from entering the arena for the awards ceremony. Jesron’s father intervened after his son was detained by security, the federation said.
“As the governing body of Colombian football, we regret what happened and offer our apologies to the organizers, the host country and to those affected,” the statement said in Spanish. “President Jesulún, on the other hand, regrets this incident, which should never have happened and which is the result of a fatherly instinct to protect his son and his family.”
Ramon Jesulun has been president of the Colombian Football Federation since 2015 and is also vice-president of CONMEBOL, the South American football governing body that organises the Copa America tournament.
In a statement, the organization said it was disappointed that numerous fans entered the stadium without tickets and “tarnished” the event. The match was delayed for over an hour. Authorities tried to control the situation and eventually decided to allow some fans to enter without going through security checkpoints.
“In the present situation, CONMEBOL was required to comply with the decisions of the Hard Rock Stadium authorities, in accordance with its contractual responsibilities regarding security activities,” the organization said. “In addition to the preparations set out in this contract, CONMEBOL recommended to these authorities procedures proven in events of this magnitude, which were not taken into account.”
Hard Rock Stadium, which will host matches in the 2026 World Cup, said security is a shared responsibility between stadium officials, the organization, CONCACAF (the governing body for soccer in North, Central America and the Caribbean) and local police.
A stadium spokesman said in a news release that there were more than double the number of people at the venue on Sunday than for a normal event.
“Relevant agencies met regularly throughout the month-long tournament, including daily security briefings,” a stadium spokesman said in a separate statement on Tuesday. “Hard Rock Stadium implemented, and in many cases exceeded, CONMEBOL’s security recommendations throughout the tournament and the final.”
Miami-Dade Police said more than 800 officers attended the game, and in addition to the arrests, 55 people were ejected.
Chaos erupted just hours before the final between the two South American nations was scheduled to start at 8pm, as fans stormed into the stadium, jumped security barriers and ran past police and stadium staff, some in hysterical conditions, searching for those who had arrived with them.
The venue appeared to sustain extensive damage as a result. Videos and images posted to social media showed railings next to escalators inside the stadium shattered, leaving behind shoes, soda cans, reading glasses and clothing. Railings at the checkpoint at the stadium’s southwest entrance were bent as thousands of people, including crying children, surged past.
According to a statement from Hard Rock Stadium, stadium officials contacted tournament organizers around 8 p.m. and made the decision to open the gates to both ticketed and non-ticketed fans. Ticketed fans had crowded the entrances due to fears of crowd stampede and serious injury. The gates were then closed, leaving many ticketed fans stranded outside.
The stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, home of the NFL’s Dolphins, is set to host seven World Cup games in 2026, including the quarterfinals and third-place play-off.
FIFA organises the World Cup and is a separate organisation from CONMEBOL. FIFA is the international federation that oversees over 200 member associations that fall under regional bodies like CONMEBOL.
Ramon Jesulun FIFA Council Members.
FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press on Monday about the crowd control issue and how to prevent similar problems in 2026.
Attorney Steve Adelman, a crowd-control expert and vice president of the Event Safety Coalition, said Hard Rock organizers failed to understand that Sunday’s game would draw passionate fans eager to see their teams, some of whom would try to force their way inside.
“A match between fans of rival South American countries couldn’t be more passionate,” he said.
Adelman said organisers should have learned from the 2021 European Championship final at London’s Wembley Stadium, where England fans stormed into the stadium because they did not have tickets to watch the match against Italy. Nineteen police officers were injured and 53 people were arrested during the unrest.
“Unfortunately, we’ve seen this type of aggressive fan behavior at international soccer matches,” Adelman said. “It’s undesirable and wrong, but it’s entirely predictable. … They should have planned for the crowd they knew they would have, not the crowd they wanted.”
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Associated Press writers Terry Spencer, Astrid Suarez and Gisela Salomon contributed to this report.
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