JAKARTA - A number of players from the Chile national team is facing fines for inviting barbers into the 2021 Copa America bubble, an act that violates strict COVID-19 protocols implemented.
Chile's football federation, FFC, said there were no positive cases of COVID-19 among the players involved in the incident, but they were ready to impose fines and apologize for the action.
The FFC did not reveal which players were involved in the incident, but Chilean media reported captain Gary Medel and Inter Milan midfielder Arturo Vidal were among them.
Chile has so far collected four points thanks to a 1-1 draw with Argentina and a 1-0 win over Bolivia in their two matches and finished second in Group A.
This news clearly sets a bad precedent for the first weekend of the 2021 Copa America, which was marked by incidents related to COVID-19.
A number of players or staff of four of the 10 participating teams, namely Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, and Venezuela, were known to have undergone self-isolation due to positive case findings.
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The 2021 Copa America will take place in Brazil, which has hosted an abundance of events following Argentina's withdrawal due to a spike in COVID-19 cases and Colombia being ruled out following a wave of social protests.
Brazil agreed to host, as a move from president Jair Bolsonaro, even though his country is also experiencing a steady spike in COVID-19 cases.
In fact, as of Saturday, June 19, the death toll from COVID-19 in Brazil has crossed 500 thousand, the second-highest in the world after the United States.
Even so, the organizing committee insisted that the 2021 Copa America would be "the safest sporting event in the world".
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