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Grave concerns Nine countries call for Copa to be suspended
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- Nine South American countries participating in the Copa America have asked for the soccer tournament to be suspended because of the kidnapping of a Colombian soccer official and ongoing unrest in Colombia. The nine nations -- excluding Colombia -- called for the suspension "as a result of the recent violence involving the member of its executive committee, Hernan Mejia," said an official statement Thursday from the South American Soccer Confederation. They said soccer authorities should pick another country to host the continental tournament. Mejia was kidnapped Monday apparently by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the country's largest leftist rebel group which has been waging a civil war for more than three decades. "We are expressing our solidarity with our colleague Hernan Mejia, asking whoever it might concern to do everything possible to obtain the immediate return," of Mejia, the statement said. The kidnapping sent new fears around the Latin American soccer world about holding the tournament in Colombia next month. Concern already was running high after a wave of bombings last month in major cities scheduled to hold games. Colombia has described the kidnapping of Mejia, one of the tournament's organizers, as "an isolated act, not an attempt against the Copa America." The suspension was requested in a letter sent by the presidents of the soccer confederations of Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. Mexico and Canada have also been invited to take part in the tournament. The South American Soccer Confederation had said earlier that Mejia's abduction raised security concerns about the event, but that it should still go ahead. They called on his abductors to immediately free him. Nicolas Leoz, head of the confederation, had been meeting with heads of South America's soccer associations in Buenos Aires, Argentina. News of Mejia's kidnapping was followed Tuesday by word of kidnap threats against top Argentine players. The threat was delivered in a letter to the Argentine Embassy in Bogota. In an apparent reference to the threats, Colombian President Andreas Pastrana had said "we should not fall for terrorism by phone or terrorism by mail." The president's call for a truce during the July 11-29 games follows earlier statements by guerrillas and rival rightist paramilitary militias that they would not interfere with the Copa America.
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