The upcoming Copa America tournament will be played in Brazil, the South American football confederation CONMEBOL said on Monday after original hosts Argentina and Colombia were dropped.
CONMEBOL tweeted that the dates are confirmed and venues to be named later in the day.
“The oldest national team tournament in the world will thrill the entire continent!” the tweet said.
“CONMEBOL thanks the President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro and his team, as well as the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) for opening the doors of that country to what is today the safest sports event in the world.”
Brazil also hosted the last edition of the oldest continental tournament in 2019.
The Copa was originally due to be played in Argentina and Colombia between June 13 and July 10.
But Colombia were stripped of the hosting rights earlier in May over political unrest and Argentina were suspended as hosts on Sunday over rising coronavirus infections.
“In view of the current circumstances, CONMEBOL informs that it has decided to suspend Argentina’s hosting of the Copa America.
“The CONMEBOL is analysing the offer of other countries which have shown interest in hosting the tournament,” the confederation had said on Sunday.
Just before the surprise announcement, Interior Minister Wado de Pedro had said that, due to the health situation in the country, it would be “very hard for the Copa America to be played.”
On Thursday, Argentina registered a record-high number of new coronavirus infections, 41,080, in spite of the country having lockdown measures in place.
The southern hemisphere’s autumn saw a second wave hit Argentina hard.
So far, some 3.7 million people have been infected and more than 77,000 people have died, according to official figures.
The Copa was initially scheduled for 2020, but like other continental tournaments pushed back owing to the pandemic.
The invited teams of Australia and Qatar withdrew earlier in the year due to the virus, with the Copa to consist of only the 10 South American teams.
Brazil have been one of the countries hit hardest by the pandemic and Bolsonaro has been criticised for his handling of the crisis.
Almost half a million people have died there of the coronavirus, with only the U.S. recording more deaths.
