Colombian Fútbol Federation President Responds to Copa América Arrest — ‘I Didn’t Hit Anyone’
Ramon Jesurun, president of Colombia's Federation of Football 'FCF' during the Colombia Vs USA Womens U20 friendly preparatory match in Bogota, Colombia's El Campin Stadium for the 2024 U20 Womens Wold Cup, on February 25, 2024. (Photo by: Sebastian Barros/Long Visual Press/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Ramón Jesurún, the President of the Colombian Fútbol Federation was among twenty-seven people arrested during the riots outside the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens on Sunday, July 14th. The riots started before the game and delayed the start of the Copa América final for over an hour, with Argentina going on to win their record 16th Copa América once the game finally got underway.
Jesurún, who is also the vice president of CONMEBOL and a member of the FIFA Council, was arrested for an altercation that occurred after the match, according to the Miami-Dade Police Department arrest report. He and his son, Ramón Jamil Jesurún, were accused of fighting security guards holding back people from a tunnel where media were gathering.
Questions about Jesurún’s whereabouts started being asked when he wasn’t present for the medal ceremony right after the game.
A purported video of the incident was shared on Instagram by Fox Sports Mexico.
The pair were initially charged on three counts of battery on a specified official. The charges were later reduced to two, with the younger Jesurún facing an additional misdemeanor battery charge.
Jesurún, who alongside his son was released on bail Monday afternoon, told reporters that his credential granted him “full access,” and that “one security guard, the kind that wants to feel important, ignored it, I insisted I was allowed to go in, and he pushed me so a fight broke out.”
“I didn’t hit anyone, I just defended myself,” Jesurún added, to questions about the police report, which stated that both the President of the Colombian Fútbol Federation and his son had become violent during the altercation and attacked multiple security guards.