An employee on the field of the Mané Garrincha stadium, in Brasilia, which will host the inauguration of the Copa América.Joédson Alves / EFE
Latin America constantly lives on the fine line that divides order from absolute chaos. Always at the limit, that proximity to the boiling point generates a permanent tension that, in turn, prompts it to survive and continue operating. An act of tightrope walker on a ledge so narrow that it is also the guiding axis of his magic. It is this tension between chaos and order that again manifests itself around one of its greatest collective expressions: the Copa América de Fútbol.
The party that in 2019 yielded more than 100 million dollars in economic income has become a breeding ground for political opportunism, commercial obligations, absence of collective solidarity, popular outrage and also renewed football hope.
Instead of packed stadiums, color, heat and long-standing rivalries, the tournament has become a reflection of the tensions in the region and the impact of the COVID pandemic.
More information
An overwhelming Brazil and a Colombia without James: the keys to the 2021 Copa América
The Copa América will be played in Brazil after the suspension in Colombia and Argentina
In Europe, an eternal rival but also a permanent reference, it is thought that its competition - the European Cup of Nations - will be a symbol of recovery, new vigor, resilience and improvement; in South America it has become a symbol of separation and polarization. However, the tournament in Europe is also a sign of arrogance and megalomania. Euro 2020 did not even change its name because the souvenirs had already been made and the logo design had already been paid for. When it was announced last year that the tournament would be postponed, managers even had the luxury of mentioning the date the tournament would resume. Those who manage soccer felt — and feel — with the ability to say how and when the world is going around again.
Soccer, Eurocentric and arrogant, splashes its essence over the rest of the regions and industries. He thinks that he is not subject to the same rules as the rest of the community with which he seeks to connect and thanks to which he exists. Perhaps you are not mistaken; finally the tournaments will take place and we will focus once again on
those little joys that football gives people
. And where are the joys that people give to football?
How can you ignore the fact that football exists thanks to its sense of community? It is precisely the collective that gives it life, which makes the most popular sport in the world to exist and reinvent itself in the face of every great tragedy that humanity goes through and before every great failure it faces as a result of the poor management of a few. When Latin America was most needed to feed on solidarity, to face the challenges that led it to be the region most affected by the pandemic through collaboration, it was then that its political and football leaders forgot, once again, of the engine of this show that gives them so much: the public.
The hot potato game led to Colombia not being able to face its responsibilities given the unscrupulous and violent repression of its protesters, which Argentina did not want to give in and neither did Conmebol. Meanwhile, Brazil, led by Bolsonaro, seizes every opportunity to position itself geopolitically through its favorite sport as its desperate people flee death. However, the announcement of the Confederation thanked the president and his team for opening their doors to "what is today the safest sporting event in the world." Surreal recognition for a country in which around half a million people have died. However, the football continues, so we can all be calm.
The Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano mentions in his book
The Open Veins of Latin America
that "the more coveted by the world market, the greater the misfortune that a product brings with it to the Latin American people who, with their sacrifice, create it."
Nothing could be more appropriate for a moment in which football, once again, has been owed to its people.
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