Original hosts Colombia and Argentina had to pull out due to political unrest and the coronavirus pandemic.
The South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) said Argentina was removed as host because of the “present circumstances”.
The country is currently experiencing a surge in Covid-19 cases.
Later on Monday, Conmebol confirmed Brazil would host the showpiece event, which starts on 13 June.
“Conmebol thanks the president @jairbolsonaro and his team, as well as the Brazilian Football Confederation for opening the doors of that country to what is today the safest sporting event in the world. South America will shine in Brazil with all its stars!”
Why Brazil?
Brazil was the next best option for two simple reasons. First, because there were no real alternatives. The U.S. was not a genuine emergency option, and not just because relations between CONMEBOL and CONCACAF have been strained ever since the joint 2016 Copa. More practically, there were questions of logistics. There was insufficient time, for example, to sort out visas for a tournament outside of South America.
Other countries, such as Chile, may have been able to stage the Colombian half of the competition. But at short notice, the full 28 games might have been too much. With its size and its stadiums, Brazil was probably the only option to step in and take care of the entire tournament in its established time zone.
Brazil made itself available for other reasons, too. CONMEBOL made a point of thanking president Jair Bolsonaro for allowing the tournament to go ahead, with the Brazilian leader saying the country was keen to play host even though a Supreme Court judge there asked him to explain his surprise decision.
If Brazil is indeed the host, Bolsonaro said the host cities would be Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, Goiania and Cuiaba.
Why were there initially two hosts?
There is no history of co-hosting in the Copa, and it does seem bizarre that the competition was set for two countries at opposite ends of a giant continent — the flight between respective capitals Buenos Aires and Bogota takes six hours.
All of this had to do with politics. Remember, this is an extra Copa, so it did not have to follow the normal sequence of host nations. This one was up for grabs.
Argentina wanted it as part of its campaign to co-host the 2030 World Cup, ostensibly with Uruguay, Paraguay and Chile. The plan is to celebrate the centenary of the world’s biggest football tournament, first played in Uruguay in 1930. Uruguay lacks the cities to stage a modern World Cup on its own, so Argentina came in as a senior partner.
This left Colombia profoundly displeased. It was already standing aside for the World Cup bid. Theoretically, it is the next South American country in line, but waived this right to support the joint 2030 campaign. Standing aside for this Copa would be too much. It has only had the Copa America once, in 2001, while Argentina staged it as recently as 2011.
CONMEBOL came up with the diplomatic solution of splitting the tournament between the two — an arrangement with serious consequences.
Why is the tournament going ahead?
As a result of the pandemic, South America is way behind on its marathon World Cup qualification campaign. Using this time to catch up on qualifiers would seem to make common sense — until you look at CONMEBOL’s finances.
The Copa is a huge event for the confederation, usually bringing in some $120 million. This one, without the invited teams, without fans in the stadiums, is set to take a loss. But the loss will be far more painful if the competition does not go ahead at all. Contracts have been signed, and — as far as CONMEBOL see it — everything has to be done to ensure that content is delivered.
