Copa America 2021 to be held in Brazil after Argentina stripped of hosting duties

A quick change of hosts after the original two nations had games removed for different reasons

(AFP via Getty Images)

South American football’s governing body, Conmebol, have confirmed that the Copa America 2021 will be played in Brazil.

The tournament, originally due to be played last year, originally saw Argentina and Colombia selected as hosts.

However, Colombia had their games stripped due to anti-government protests almost two weeks ago, before Argentina were also stripped of hosting duties apparently due to a surge in Covid cases.

With less than two weeks to go before the Copa gets underway, the pressure was on for Conmebol to find a new host.

And they confirmed on Monday afternoon via Twitter that, with the help of the Brazilian Football Federation as well as president Jair Bolsonaro, an agreement had been reached for Brazil to stage the competition.

Conmebol further confirmed that the fixture list would be confirmed in the coming hours and dates were already set.

The 10-team tournament sees two groups of five, with four from each group progressing to the knock-out phase.

Brazil are the reigning champions from the 2019 tournament, which the same nation also hosted.