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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Michael Howie

Colombia football chief Ramón Jesurún arrested and charged with battery after Copa America final brawl

Colombia's football federation president and his son were arrested and charged after a huge fight broke out at the end of the Copa America final between Argentina and Colombia.

Ramón Jesurún, 71, and his son Ramon Jamil, 41, were detained after the showpiece match at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium and charged with battery, Miami-Dade police said.

They were among 27 people arrested following the brawl at the stadium after Colombia lost to Argentina 0-1 in extra time.

Miami-Dade Police Department told the BBC that Mr Ramón and his son were "walking towards the entrance of the field" when they became "irate and began shouting" at a security officer who was instructed to temporarily delay people from going further.

The officer had "placed an open palm" on the chest of Mr Ramón's son to prevent him going further, police said.

According to police, the football chief then pushed the officer while his son allegedly grabbed the guard's neck and pulled him to the ground, punching him and kicking him in the head.

Colombia's soccer federation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The final was marred by chaos before it had even kicked off. Fans forced their way into the ground, jumping over security railings and running past police officers and stadium attendants. Police said it made 27 arrests in total. 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 in the southwest entrance to the stadium were bent over as thousands of people, including crying children, pushed against them.

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