RIO DE JANEIRO — The organizers of South America’s premier soccer tournament were in a major bind.
Colombia and Argentina, original hosts of the tournament, the Copa América, had bowed out, deeming it impossible to welcome hundreds of players and their entourages while the coronavirus pandemic ravaged the continent.
This week an unlikely player stepped forward.
“The Copa América will be in Brazil!” Alejandro Domínguez, president of the South American soccer federation, CONMEBOL, announced Monday, thanking President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil for saving the day.
The backlash has been withering.
Brazil has been averaging more than 60,000 new coronavirus cases each day.