CONMEBOL has announced that Argentina will no longer act as the hosts for the 2021 Copa America – reverting its decision to play the competition in the country just days ago. As of now, the tournament has no host.
Argentina has been removed as the host of the 2021 Copa America, CONMEBOL has announced. The South American country was expected to host the tournament jointly with Colombia this year, but the latter was removed as the host due to ongoing domestic troubles. The South American footballing body revealed the news via their social media account in the early hours of May 31.
The statement read as follows:
CONMEBOL informs that in view of the present circumstances it has decided to suspend the organization of the Copa América in Argentina. CONMEBOL analyzes the offer of other countries that showed interest in hosting the continental tournament.
Argentina was initially presented with the idea of hosting the entire tournament alone – a possibility which the government was exploring. However, the latest CONMEBOL statement leaves the international tournament without any host. However, the football association has stated that they hope to announce an update regarding the host situation in due course, with some reports claiming that the United States of America was previously being assessed as an option.
Conversely, Roy Nemer and Martin Fernandez report that there is the possibility that the entire tournament is canceled. CONMEBOL has called an emergency meeting to discuss the future of the competition amid several crises in South America.
Ten countries were due to take part in Copa America this year, divided into two groups of five. However, a change in the format meant that eight of those ten teams would’ve been able to progress to the knockout stage. As it stands, only two teams would drop out of the tournament after the conclusion of the group stage.
Brazil are the defending champions of the international competition after they beat Peru in the 2019 final to lift the cup. Argentina, on the other hand, finished third after beating Chile in the playoff.
