President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday said the South American Soccer Tournament will be held in Brazil if the decision is up to him.
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On Monday, the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) announced that the international tournament would be held in Brazil since Argentina and Colombia declined to host this year's competition.
"I was consulted by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) and our response was positive," said Bolsonaro, a far-right politician who downplays the COVID-19 pandemic, which has left over 462,000 people dead in his country so far.
In an attempt to justify that mass events do not influence the increase in COVID-19 contagions, the Brazilian president argued that matches for other international tournaments have been going on for months.
"Nobody says anything about that, but if it is the Copa America then it will cause crowds and should not be played," Bolsonaro said ironically to insist that he is willing to host the tournament that would start on June 13.
Since last week, Brazilian politicians and subnational governors have strongly criticized the possibility of holding the South American tournament in their country. The questioning has even been made by athletes such as soccer player Sergio Aguero, who arrived in Argentina on Tuesday to join his country's national team.
"If it is complicated in Brazil, it cannot be played... We want to play but the issue is to look for a good place to do it", he said, adding that the decision that the international tournament will not be played in Argentina was correct.