After the South American Football Confederation announced a shift of base for the continental tournament from Argentina to Brazil, merely two weeks before the tournament starts, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, on Friday, said that he would not hesitate to cancel Copa America matches scheduled in his city if the COVID-19 pandemic worsened  

The competition was switched to Brazil from Argentina on Tuesday. It starts on June 13.

“I don’t see any advantage in hosting Copa America matches,” said Mayor Eduardo Paes during his weekly press briefing on the health situation.

“We didn’t ask for the Copa America and if you want my opinion, I don’t think it’s the right time to organise such a tournament.”

The mayor said that while club matches, such as the Brazilian league and the Copa Libertadores, were played behind closed doors in Rio, that was under a decree in force until 14 June, the day after the opening match of the Copa America in Brasilia.

Earlier, the announcement for the new venue
came less than 24 hours after the governing body’s meeting, where it was
decided that Argentina would not be hosting the event slated to start from June
13 and will be going on till July 10.

Also read: Brazil to host Copa America amid Argentina’s COVID surge

Another announcement on Wednesday listed out venues that will be hosting the games: Mane
Garrincha Stadium in Brasilia, Arena Pantanal in Cuiaba, Estadio Olimpico de
Goiania in Goiania, and Maracana in Rio de Janeiro.

For the first time in the
tournament in its 105-year history, Argentina and Colombia were scheduled to
play joint hosts. However, the stripping away of Colombia as co-hosts came on on
May 20, after a series of protests demanding socio-economic change rocked the South
American nation.

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Although not specifying the
cause of removing Argentina as a host and keeping reasonings limited to a short
‘present circumstances’, CONMEBOL’s decision is stated to be largely due to a COVID-19
surge in the country which prompted the government to implement a lockdown.

The move to Brazil could be accredited
to its comparatively superior footballing infrastructure, including venues built
for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. A possible other reason might include logistical
troubles to shift the entire facility to a faraway nation like United States or
Qatar, with the latter being considered as a last-minute alternative.

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The success for the tournament,
however, cannot be completely assured, as Brazil itself at the moment carries
one of world’s highest COVID-19 death tolls, a number greater than 450,000.

Already cancelled in 2020 due to
the coronavirus pandemic, another cancellation this year would be economically
crushing for the organisers. The last Copa America held in Brazil back in 2019 raked
in revenues close to $118 million. This year, each nation is reportedly going
to receive $4 million, with the winners getting an additional $10 million.

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Argentina are scheduled to start
off the tournament on June 13 against Chile, followed a day later by Brazil,
who begin defending their title against Venezuela.