Colombia’s football boss arrested amid crowd chaos at Copa América

The arrests came during a turbulent night at Hard Rock Stadium, where crowds of people, some with tickets and some without, crowded into the concourses to watch a highly anticipated match that Argentina eventually won 1-0. The start of Sunday’s match was delayed for nearly 90 minutes after venue officials closed the gates to handle the overwhelming crowd of potential visitors.

Amid the chaos, a team of more than 800 police officers from eight agencies arrested 27 people and escorted 55 out, Miami-Dade police said Monday.

The Colombian Football Federation did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the arrests of Jesurun and his 43-year-old son. Jesurun is also a member of a decision-making body of FIFA, the international football association, and vice president of the South American football association CONMEBOL, which organizes the Copa América.

According to Jesurún’s arrest report, he was accused of becoming “angry” when a security employee told him to wait instead of going directly through a door that leads from the stadium tunnel to the field. The employee, identified as Jakari Shaw, was reportedly instructed by management to “temporarily hold back” pedestrians at that location. Jesurún and his son reportedly approached Shaw and began yelling at him from “few inches” away. When Shaw put his hand on Jamil Jesurún’s chest to “guide him back,” the elder Jesurún shoved the employee, according to the report.

Jamil Jesurún then allegedly grabbed Shaw by the neck, pulled him to the ground and punched him twice. While Shaw was still on the ground, Jamil Jesurún kicked him in the head, according to police. Jesurún’s son allegedly grabbed and pushed an employee who tried to intervene and hit a security supervisor who arrived at the scene. Jesurún was also accused of hitting the supervisor.

According to police, Jesurún was taken into custody at 12:51 a.m., about half an hour after his son was arrested.

Without commenting on Jesurún’s arrest, CONMEBOL said it regretted “that the acts of violence committed by malicious individuals have marred a final that could have been a great sporting event.”

The South American association added that it was “subject to the decisions of the Hard Rock Stadium authorities in accordance with the security operations responsibilities established in the contract.”

In a statement released early Monday morning, stadium officials said preparations for the final had been made in collaboration with CONMEBOL and local law enforcement authorities, among others.

“It is disappointing that a celebratory night was marred by unlawful and unsafe behavior,” stadium officials said, “and we will be fully reviewing the processes and protocols in place this evening and working with law enforcement to ensure such an event never happens again.”