Uruguayan FA President Wilmar Valdez said that it was "a mistake" to play the Copa América Centenario in the U.S. and that the tournament "had been arranged to favor Mexico," which beat Uruguay 3-1 in its opening game, according to Andrew Downie of REUTERS. In a "bad-tempered encounter in Phoenix on Sunday, Uruguay had a man sent off in the first half and conceded two goals in the last nine minutes." That came after organizers "had played the wrong national anthem for Uruguay before the match." Valdez told Uruguayan radio station Sport 890 that CONMEBOL should not have chosen the U.S. to host the 100th anniversary of the world’s oldest continental competition. Valdez: "CONMEBOL got it wrong. It erred in celebrating a tournament like this, the oldest in the world, South American football, here in the United States where yesterday it became very clear that it is arranged for Mexico." As one of the CONMEBOL officials behind the hosting decision, Valdez admitted he shared responsibility for "the mistake." He said, "South American football is passion. It's a different culture, with lots of positive things. But [the U.S. is] a country where they don't feel football" (REUTERS, 6/6). ESPN reported Valdez called the estimated 33 million Mexican Americans living in the U.S. "a big colony," and singled out the influence of Univision, which is the Copa América Spanish-language TV rights-holder. Valdez, who was interim CONMEBOL president last year, said, "It pains me to say it and I take full responsibility as a member of the CONMEBOL executive committee. This may be a great Copa from a marketing and 'show' standpoint, but for South American football, it is another thing" (ESPN, 6/7).
ANTHEM ERRORS: ESPN reported in a separate piece "just when you think" the Copa América Centenario organizers would have learned from their "embarrassing gaffe a day earlier, they made a mess of Chile's national anthem before their 2-1 Group D loss to Argentina." The "first mishap" took place in Glendale, when the organizers "wrongfully played out the Chile national anthem instead of Uruguay's." But it would not "be the last of such blunders," as a second happened at the Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., when Pitbull's "Mr. Worldwide" interrupted the conclusion of Chile's anthem (ESPN, 6/7).
