Copa America moved to Brazil amid Argentina's COVID-19 spike
Just 13 days before the opening kickoff, this summer's Copa America has been moved to Brazil amid surging COVID-19 numbers in Argentina.
South America's footballing governing body, CONMEBOL, announced the switch Monday. It was confirmed Sunday night that Argentina, currently experiencing its worst coronavirus spike since the pandemic began, won't stage the event.
South America's marquee continental tournament is scheduled to take place from June 13 to July 10. All 10 CONMEBOL teams are slated to participate.
Brazil recorded over 43,000 new cases Sunday. Thousands of people recently took to the streets to protest the government's widely criticized handling of the crisis. Only the United States has suffered more COVID-19 deaths than Brazil during the pandemic.
Argentina, meanwhile, imposed strict lockdown measures last weekend during a seven-day spike with an average of 35,000 cases and 500 deaths per day, according to The Associated Press.
The tournament was initially slated to be co-hosted by Argentina and Colombia, but the latter was stripped of its duties on May 20 amid ongoing protests against President Ivan Duque.
Argentina President Alberto Fernandez said last week that the nation was prepared to host the tournament alone.