 "Uruguay players confront Colombia fans at the end of a Copa America semi-final match in Charlotte. AP")
Violent scenes marked Uruguay’s defeat to Colombia in the Copa America semi-final on Thursday as players from the losing side including Liverpool star Darwin Nunez were involved in a brawl with Colombian fans. The videos doing the rounds on social media show Nunez confronting the Colombian fans and unleashing a flurry of punches after entering the spectator seating at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium.
Uruguay central defender Jose Maria Gimenez later revealed that the players took on the Colombian supporters to safeguard their family members after their team’s defeat .
“This is a disaster. Our family was in danger. We had to go to the stands to take out our loved ones, with tiny newborn babies,” the Atletico Madrid player said.
“There was not a single police officer…I hope those who are organising this are a little more careful with the families.
“Every game it’s been happening because there are people who don’t know how to handle a couple of drinks.”
The violence at the stadium in Charlotte raises questions over the preparations made by the organisers.
Despite the majority of the spectators in the crowd being Colombia, there was no segregation between them and their Uruguayan counterparts.
While punches were thrown several Uruguay players climbed into the crowd, seemingly to protect them, with Nunez prominent among them.
The fighting continued for several minutes until police finally intervened.
A group of around 80-100 Uruguayan fans remained in the stadium, on the field, long after the rest of the fans had left.
Ugly scenes also broke out on the field after the final whistle, with players and staff from both teams involved in a mass melee in the centre-circle following Colombia’s 1-0 victory.
With agency inputs