Messi, with the Argentine team.
The Copa América will continue even if the second wave of covid-19 flares up on the continent.
The South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) has announced this Tuesday the donation of 50,000 vaccines by the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech Ltd. to immunize the main South American professional football teams and thus allow the celebration of the tournament that will be played between the 13 June and July 10 between Argentina and Colombia.
“This is the best news the South American football family can receive.
It is a huge step forward in defeating the covid-19 pandemic, but it does not mean in any way that we are letting our guard down.
We will maintain our responsible work, which allowed us to conclude our tournaments without setbacks and without altering the formats ”, has expressed the head of Conmebol, Alejandro Dominguez, through social networks.
Dominguez thanked the mediation of the President of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou, "to finalize the agreement" with the Chinese company that will contribute to the celebration of this competition that was to be held last year but was postponed due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.
"Soccer is a fundamental activity for the economy, culture and physical and mental health of South Americans," Conmebol said in a statement.
Messi jerseys
The body has also highlighted the role of the star of the Argentine national team, Lionel Messi.
“The directors of Sinovac Bio Tech expressed their admiration for Leo Messi, who willingly sent us three shirts for them.
So he is also part of this achievement ”, announced the director of development of Conmebol, Gonzalo Belloso.
“We want to give soccer players immunity before the Copa América because anyone can be called up.
On Friday we have the Council of Conmebol to begin to define.
We are not going to vaccinate only those classified to the Libertadores and Sudamericana ”, Belloso has advanced in radio statements.
The organization has not yet defined whether the games will be played with limited capacity or without an audience, pending the evolution of the pandemic on the continent.
The double headquarters of the Copa América - Argentina and Colombia - will force the teams classified from the quarterfinals to fly between one country and another at the beginning of the southern winter, when a higher incidence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is expected .
The news has not been received unanimously.
While national soccer teams and federations have applauded it, some citizens have expressed their discontent through social networks, especially when comparing the moderate risk posed by the disease for soccer players with that of older adults and with comorbidities that still remain. they have not been immunized.
America has become the epicenter of the covid-19 pandemic, with almost half of the deaths registered by the coronavirus in the world, but vaccination is progressing slowly in most Central and South American countries due to the delay in distribution .
In Argentina, one of the co-hosts of the Copa América, this Tuesday a new record of positive cases for covid-19 was registered, 27,001 cases.
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