Copa América Femenina faces backlash over poor conditions and low attendance

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Copa América Femenina faces backlash over poor conditions and low attendance

2025-07-26 00:18 Last Updated At：00:41

The Copa América Femenina has gotten off to a rough start.

Players complained about the training conditions for group-stage matches in the tournament in Ecuador and the lack of VAR, as well as near-empty stadiums for many games.

Soccer great Marta, a six-time world player of the year who came out of retirement to play for Brazil in the premier women’s tournament for South America, was not happy to be forced to warm up at Gonzalo Pozo Ripalda Stadium in a small indoor area before a match against Bolivia.

“There wasn’t enough space. I don’t understand why we can’t warm up on the pitch. We hope that CONMEBOL will address some of these issues and take steps to improve. Is this professional football?” Marta said. “I haven’t played in a tournament in South America for many years, and these situations deeply sadden me.”

The tournament organizers did not allow players to warm up on the field to protect it because in the group stage there are back-to-back matches in that stadium.

CONMEBOL, South America soccer’s governing body, has not commented on the complaints.

“Even amateur tournaments are better organized than this," Brazil's Ary Borges said. "Ask Alejandro (Domínguez, CONMEBOL president) if he’s ever had to warm up in a 5- or 10-meter space that smells of paint. Why do things like this happen in women’s football? Honestly, I think we deserve much better.”

The tournament is being played across three stadiums in the capital of Quito. The final is set for Aug. 2 at the Rodrigo Paz Delgado stadium, the third largest one in Ecuador, with a capacity of 44,000 fans.

Players have also complained about the lack of VAR, with video review only being used for the semifinals and final.

“It’s disrespectful that there’s no VAR. The (Women's) European Championship is being played in parallel (in Switzerland) and for us, as players, it’s a disgrace to watch the European Championship and the Copa América,” said Chile striker Yanara Aedo.

The Copa América is among three big continental women’s tournaments this summer, along with the European Championship and the Africa Cup of Nations.

For some teams, problems arose before the start of the tournament. Uruguay arrived with their players upset with their federation over training conditions and they agreed to participate just 72 hours before their match after their demands were met.

The players asked to use the training facility in Uruguay known as “Complejo Celeste” with the same conditions as their male counterparts, to have better equipment and an increase in their daily money allowance for national and international competitions.

Low attendance has also been an issue. Although no official numbers have been released, television images show most of the stadiums with empty seats even for the host nation. In Ecuador's first match against Uruguay only 6,000 fans were announced at the IDV stadium, which seats 12,000.

Tickets for the event went on sale to the general public on July 4, just eight days before the opening game. At an international forum on labor conditions in women's sport earlier this month in Geneva, delegates were told that a lack of promotion in Ecuador allegedly saw just 30 tickets sold for one game in a near-empty stadium.

FIFPRO, the global soccer players' union, surveys players following big events and works with confederations to make necessary changes.

“It’s just not isolated in CONMEBOL, it’s a global issue. I think what’s happened is obviously that the players with the biggest platforms, Marta, Kerolin, they’re able to speak out, but there’s a lot of players who are unable to use their voice," said Alex Culvin, FIFPRO’s director of global policy for women’s football.

"That’s where FIFPRO obviously has a responsibility to shield the players so they don’t have to advocate for themselves, and we do that through anonymous surveying, and when players do speak out, we offer support.”

AP Soccer Writer Anne M. Peterson contributed to this report.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Trump threatens to use the Insurrection Act to end protests in Minneapolis

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke an 1807 law and deploy troops to quell persistent protests against the federal officers sent to Minneapolis to enforce his administration's massive immigration crackdown.

The threat comes a day after a man was shot and wounded by an immigration officer who had been attacked with a shovel and broom handle. That shooting further heightened the fear and anger that has radiated across the city since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot Renee Good in the head.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely used federal law, to deploy the U.S. military or federalize the National Guard for domestic law enforcement, over the objections of state governors. In 2020, for example, he threatened to use the act to quell protests after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police, and in recent months he threatened to use it for immigration protests.

“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump said in social media post.

Presidents have invoked the law more than two dozen times, most recently in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush to end unrest in Los Angeles. In that instance, local authorities had asked for the assistance.

“I’m making a direct appeal to the President: Let’s turn the temperature down. Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are,” Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said on X.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he would challenge any such action in court. He's already suing to try to stop the surge by the Department of Homeland Security, which says officers have arrested more than 2,500 people since Nov. 29 as part of an immigration operation in the Twin Cities called Metro Surge.

The operation grew when ICE sent 2,000 officers and agents to the area early in January. ICE is a DHS agency.

In Minneapolis, smoke filled the streets Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd. Protesters responded by throwing rocks and shooting fireworks.

Demonstrations have become common in Minneapolis since Good was fatally shot on Jan. 7. Agents who have yanked people from their cars and homes have been confronted by angry bystanders demanding they leave.

“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of three people who said they were questioned or detained in recent days. The lawsuit says two are Somali and one is Hispanic; all three are U.S. citizens. The lawsuit seeks an end to what the ACLU describes as a practice of racial profiling and warrantless arrests. The government did not immediately comment.

Similar lawsuits have been filed in Los Angeles and Chicago and despite seeing initial success, have tended to fizzle in the face of appeal. In Chicago, for example, last year a judge ordered a senior U.S. Border Patrol official to brief her nightly following a lawsuit by news outlets and protesters who said agents used too much force during demonstrations. But three days later, an appeals court stopped the updates.

Homeland Security said in a statement that federal law enforcement officers on Wednesday stopped a driver from Venezuela who is in the U.S. illegally. The person drove off then crashed into a parked car before fleeing on foot, DHS said.

Officers caught up, then two other people arrived and the three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.

“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said. The confrontation took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) from where Good was killed.

Police chief Brian O’Hara said the man who was shot did not have a life-threatening injury. O’Hara's account of what happened largely echoed that of Homeland Security, which later said the other two men were also in the U.S. illegally from Venezuela.

The FBI said several government vehicles were damaged and property inside was stolen when agents responded to the shooting. Photos show broken windows and insults made with paint. A reward of up to $100,000 is being offered for information. The FBI’s Minneapolis office did not immediately reply to messages seeking more details.

St. Paul Public Schools, with more than 30,000 students, said it would begin offering an online learning option for students who do not feel comfortable coming to school. Schools will be closed next week until Thursday to prepare for those accommodations.

Minneapolis Public Schools, which has a similar enrollment, is also offering temporary remote learning. The University of Minnesota will start a new term next week with different options depending on the class.

Madhani reported from Washington, D.C. and Golden reported from Seattle. Associated Press reporters Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Rebecca Santana in Washington; and Ed White in Detroit contributed.