FORT LAUDERDALE — The first claims in connection with the chaos which was triggered last weekend when fans without tickets forced their way into the final of the America Cup at Hard Rock Stadium were presented on Friday and one person cited serious injuries and other ticket holders said they were denied entry.
Miami-Dade County and federal court records make clear that as of Friday morning, at least four lawsuits had been filed against the stadium and the CONMEBOL, South American soccer’s governing body, over the chaos that erupted ahead of Sunday’s match between Argentina and Colombia.
Attorney Judd Rosen, who represents the injured woman, said the stadium and CONMEBOL officials should have hired more police and security guards but put revenue before safety.
“This was a money grab,” Rosen said. “All the money they should have spent on a proper security plan and proper security equipment went into their own pockets.”
Money back
Stadium officials declined to comment Friday beyond saying they would refund money for unused tickets purchased directly from organizers. They previously said they hired twice as much security for Sunday’s final compared with the Miami Dolphins’ games and even exceeded CONMEBOL’s recommendation. The stadium will host several 2026 World Cup matches.
CONMEBOL, which is based in Paraguay, did not comment specifically on the demands. In an earlier statement, the organizers They blamed the chaos on stadium officials ensuring that they did not implement their recommendations.
Rosen’s client, Isabel Quintero, was one of the ticket holders who was injured when they were knocked down or pushed into the wall and pillars. Police arrested 27 people — including the president of the Colombian Football Federation and his son over an altercation at the end of the match with a security guard — and ejected 55.
Rosen said his client, who works in finance, flew his father from Colombia to see the game as a belated Father’s Day gift and paid $1,500 for each ticket.
He said Quintero was in line when security stopped admitting people to prevent ticketless fans from entering. The crowd continued to grow and the start of the game was approaching when people began pushing dangerously against the gate. Security opened the doors “a little bit to allow one-by-one entry,” Rosen said.
The stampede
That’s when they began pushing to fully open the doors, triggering a stampede, Rosen said. Quintero was thrown against a pillar, causing soft tissue damage to her knee and shoulder and a chest injury that makes it difficult for her to breathe, she said. Her father was knocked down but not injured.
“He never saw the Colombian national team in person because he thought it was too dangerous in Colombia,” Rosen said. “So he gave him the trip as a Father’s Day gift to see the team play and the result is this, something they never thought would happen in the United States.”
He said he expects to file more lawsuits after he spoke to one person who had his teeth knocked out and another who had his arm fractured.
More demands
Attorney Irwin Ast filed lawsuits in state and federal court on behalf of ticketed fans who were turned away as hundreds of ticketless fans pushed to get into the already packed stadium.
He said fans traveled from all over the United States and the Americas and spent thousands of dollars on tickets, change and hotel rooms. They also experienced fear and stress when they were caught up in the stampede and chaos, which could have been prevented if the stadium and CONMEBOL had implemented a better security plan, he said.
“People are bringing their kids — this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a lot of people,” Ast said. “This was a scary situation.”
Source: With information from AP
