Rodrigo Bentancur has been named among 11 Uruguay players after disciplinary investigations were opened following the ugly scenes after the Copa America semi-final against Colombia.
Uruguay fell to a 1-0 defeat in a fiery semi-final in Charlotte this week, with Bentancur forced off in the first half of the game with an injury following a collision with his own team-mate Mathias Olivera as both attempted a sliding tackle. Jefferson Lerma scored what would be the winning goal soon not long the Spurs player’s exit from the pitch.
However, the game has now been overshadowed by what happened after the final whistle. Amid claims from the Uruguayan players that their families were being caught up near out of control supporters from the two countries, some of the Uruguay squad, including Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez, jumped into the stands amid the trouble.
Down on the pitch, footage appeared to then show Bentancur hurl a bottle from the touchline into the crowd, which seemed to fly near a female Uruguayan fan and strike the forehead of Uruguay fitness coach Santiago Ferro who had climbed up into the stands. Another angle showed a bottle smashing against Ferro’s head, cutting it open with blood smeared across his forehead as he was taken away for medical attention. The coach was photographed the following day at the squad’s training camp with a scar across his right temple.
A second video then appeared to show Bentancur throwing another object into the crowd before the midfielder was ushered away by staff members. It was reported that the players’ families were escorted out of the stadium through a different exit to ensure their safety.
Now CONMEBOL have sent documents to the Uruguay Football Association with the names of 11 players who they are investigating with video evidence.
Uruguayan journalist Rodrigo Romano reported on Friday: “Around 8pm, AUF received the documents that have the 11 names of the players who participated in the final episodes for CONMEBOL. The documents contain the names, number in the competition and the cause attributed to them for the purposes of dealing with the sanctions to be determined.
“The 11 players are Jose Maria Gimenez, Sebastian Caceres, Ronald Araujo, Rodrigo Bentancur, Facundo Pellistri, Mathias Olivera, Matias Vina, Brain Rodriguez, Darwin Nunez, Emiliano Martinez, Santiago Mele. Each of the players’ names is accompanied by film evidence and the reason for which a disciplinary file is opened.
“The AUF will have until next Wednesday (July 17) to present their defences in writing. After that day, a period will begin for CONMEBOL to study and resolve whether or not to sanction each of the aforementioned players. There are no preventive sanctions, so these players are fit to play on Saturday against Canada.
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