Copa America final delayed over an hour due to crowd trouble outside stadium

The Copa America final between Argentina and Colombia was scheduled to kick off Sunday evening at 8 p.m. ET at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida.

But as 8 p.m. came and went, the Hard Rock remained empty.

The kickoff was delayed--first to 8:30 p.m. ET, then to 8:45 p.m. ET and finally to 9:15 p.m. ET — due to security lockdowns at the stadium that prevented ticketed fans from entering.

Around 6 p.m. ET, eyewitness videos from the stadium showed fans of both teams, presumed to be ticketless, vaulting the Hard Rock's security gates in huge numbers and rushing the stadium en masse.

To stem the flow of un-ticketed entries, the Hard Rock shut down all other entrances around the ground , trapping huge throngs of fans outside in the sweltering South Florida heat.

"We saw multiple people faint as they got let in, some carried by police over to the medic station, others leaning in on each other as they searched for water," said The Athletic's Paul Tenorio. "Some simply found a spot to sit on the ground and cry or dump water on themselves."

This is the Copa America's second serious security breach this week. The first occurred after the semifinal between Uruguay and Colombia when Uruguayan players (including Liverpool striker Darwin Nuñez) jumped into the crowd to fight opposing fans who appeared to be threatening their loved ones.

The two incidents could be a damning indictment of the United States's ability to host a major international tournament. With the World Cup coming to the States in just two years, serious changes will need to be made to stadium security procedures to ensure the safety of fans, staff and players.

It is important to remember, however, that the majority of the Copa America was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's governing soccer federation, and not the U.S.

CONMEBOL selected the facilities , knowingly choosing several football stadiums whose fields were not ready for soccer surfaces. It also chose Miami to host the final despite the danger of the South Florida heat.

The issue of stadium security falls on the shoulders of the States; the issue of choosing the wrong stadiums, including some, like the Hard Rock, that carry extreme weather risk, falls on CONMEBOL.

Both organizations will have serious questions to answer after the disastrous start of this Copa America final.