RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil’s Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, asserted on Tuesday, June 8, that the hosting of the Copa América soccer tournament in the country “is not a risk” for the population, since the health safety protocols drawn up for the tournament “are safe”.
Queiroga appeared before a Senate committee investigating possible government omissions in the fight against a pandemic that has already killed nearly 475,000 Brazilians and assured that Copa América, which will begin in the country next Sunday, does not increase the health risk, as there will be “bubbles” for each delegation.
“The risk for the population is the same, with or without the Cup”, since the estimated 650 people that will make up the delegations, including players, coaches, and support staff, “will be isolated” in their hotels and will only leave in “controlled” buses to train and go to the stadiums where the matches will be played, he said.
According to data from the Senate committee, the minister noted that the same “protocol” would apply to the nearly 2,000 journalists who have requested accreditation to cover the competition.
“I see no risks from the epidemiological point of view”, insisted Queiroga, who pointed out that “the practice of sports is free” in Brazil, to the point that, for months, national and regional championships and dozens of matches of the Libertadores and the South American Cup or the qualifiers for the World Cup of Qatar 2022 have been played.
He stressed that, in all these cases, as will be the case for the Copa América, the matches will be played “without spectators”, so that “there will be no danger of crowds”.
He also reiterated that the soccer tournament would not mean an additional burden for the public health network since the ten South American teams that will participate “have private insurance and will use the private system” in case of any medical emergency.
Likewise, he pointed out that “the vaccination of the players is not mandatory”, because if it were, “there could not be a championship”, since the immunization process is at least two months behind schedule.
Queiroga assured that the Copa América “is not an event of great proportions, like the Olympic Games”, and added that, despite the strong criticism that has generated its dispute in Brazil, one of the countries most affected by the pandemic in the world, “all the biosecurity protocols are safe”.