They dropped thousands on the Copa America final. They’re suing after chaos at stadium

Isabel Quintero purchased two $1,000 tickets for the Copa America final in Miami Gardens’ Hard Rock Stadium. Argentina and Colombia were facing off — and she wanted to treat her dad, who lives in Colombia, to a late Father’s Day celebration.

But the festivities ended with her being denied entry — and she was pushed, trampled and slammed into objects, her attorneys say, by an unruly crowd that flooded the stadium’s gates, even slithering through vents.

READ MORE: Lax security for walk-ins led to breach, chaos at Hard Rock Stadium’s Copa America final

Quintero is now one of at least five Copa America ticketholders who are suing after the stampede flooded the stadium before Sunday night’s highly anticipated matchup. After the swarm of ticketless soccer fans, security shut the gates, locking out hundreds and possibly thousands of ticket-holding fans — meaning a deluge of other lawsuits could be on the horizon.

The lawsuits named South Florida Stadium LLC, which operates the Hard Rock Stadium, and CONMEBOL, the South American football confederation, as defendants. Quintero’s complaint, filed Thursday by attorneys Khristopher Salado and Judd Rosen, blamed organizers for the woman’s injuries, citing “security’s complete lack of training, preparation, and/or safety protocol.”

The complaint also claims the venue and organizers should have hired enough security personnel, trained bilingual staff and implemented safety measures, and adds that event workers should have rendered aid to the injured and kicked out “troublesome patrons.”

The defendants “negligently failed to have any procedures... to remove unruly, rowdy, and/or troublesome patrons governing the supervision and/or security of its premises; or in the alternative, ...did in fact have procedures governing the supervision and/or security of its premises, but implemented said procedures in a careless and negligent manner,” the lawsuit says.

At the stadium, Quintero sustained significant external injuries — and potential internal injuries — from being trampled, squished and shoved by the crowd, Rosen said. Her body is covered in bruises.

“The sad thing is that the stadium is trying to blame the fans,” Rosen said. “But the stadium and the promoters were in charge of safety...Valid ticketholders could have been cheering for their country and favorite teams instead of literally fighting for their lives in the stampede in the entrance of the stadium.”

Rosen highlighted that the security breaches could have been worse, as many of the ticketless fans weren’t screened through metal detectors.

“We need to set a safety standard for sporting events,” the attorney said. “This case is more about making sporting events safe than it is about the money.”

Jacqueline Martinez bought four tickets for more than $4,000 to attend the game with her husband, Nicolas Osorio, and her parents, Marta Pintos and Eduardo Martinez. The family, however, was barred from entering the stadium due to the mob.

“The unlawful entry of individuals into the arena was a foreseeable consequence of Defendants’ failure to implement adequate crowd control measures, security protocols, and ticket verification processes,” said their complaint, filed by attorney Leonard Caracappa on Monday.

The family turned to the courts, seeking a refund for their expenses and the distress they experienced during the tense scuffles, said attorney Irwin Ast.

“They saved for years to go to this game,” Ast said. “Some people sacrificed not this year’s vacation, but the last three years’ vacations so they could afford these tickets.”

Instead, they were caught in a melee that could have been easily prevented with security measures, the attorney said.

“They thought they were going to see a once-in-a-lifetime event,” Ast said. “You can liken it to having tickets to the Super Bowl [and having people] rush into the arena, sitting in your seat.”

On Friday, a Hard Rock Stadium official said fans who purchased tickets on the primary market and were denied entry to the match are encouraged to reach out to Ticketmaster to request a refund. Ticketmaster will take the claim and provide next steps to the customer.

Fans who purchased tickets on the secondary market should direct their refund request to the entity from which they purchased.

Miami Herald reporter Michelle Kaufman contributed to this report.