The countdown to the Copa America started

On Wednesday, June 29, under the leadership of Dr. Nicolas Leoz, Buenos Aires held the Technical Meeting of the Copa America.

The event, held at the Hilton Hotel in Buenos Aires, at 3pm (local time), they informed the representatives of the participating teams in the competition the main regulation issues and other matters of sport and organization.

Together with Dr. Leoz, integrated speakers table Meiszner Dr. Jose Luis, head of the Local Organizing Committee, and Mr. Eugenio Figueredo (vice president of CONMEBOL), Eduardo Deluca (secretary general), Romer Osuna (treasurer) Rafael Esquivel (President of the Venezuelan Football Federation), Juan Angel Napout (President of the Paraguayan Association), Dr. Sebastian Bauza (President Association of Uruguay), Sergio Jadue (President Federation of Chile), Carlos Alarcon (President Commission Referees CONMEBOL) and Francisco Figueredo (CONMEBOL executive secretary).

After the welcome offered by Dr. Leoz and the owner of the LOC, Mr. Eduardo Deluca proceeded to discuss some regulation issues that will govern in the tournament. They were:

-The schedule of the first match (Argentina VS. Bolivia, Friday 1 July) is 9:45pm (local time). The opening ceremony will be at 8:15pm (local time).

-Warnings: explained that the player receiving a second yellow card during the competition will be automatically suspended for one match. Associations were proposed to eliminate accumulated yellow cards before the start of quarterfinals, which was adopted unanimously. Notwithstanding this, the players are booked in the third game of the first phase must meet its punishment in Quarterfinals.

-Bench: there will be 19 persons, 12 reserve players and 7 members of the coaching staff.

-Preheat the parties in the field of play will be allowed, except in cases of split second doubleheader (Wednesday (4) and Thursday (8) in San Juan and Mendoza). On these occasions the team’s second round should be heated in a space inside the stadium.

-Procedure in cases of suspension of games, if for reasons of force majeure or of different types a game is suspended, the authorities of the match, referee and commissioner, will wait a reasonable time if the game can resume. Failure to do so, the match will continue the next day on schedule to be determined by the Organizing Committee of the tournament. If there are incidents, the arbitrator will decide if the suspension is permanent or temporary meeting.

-There will be a protocol entry teams, like in the World Cup. He urged the teams to strict compliance. Mr. Osuna said that in case of delays, will be applied fines of $ 5,000US.

-National Anthems: will run in all matches of the tournament. Only in the opening match will play the complete songs of each team. In the other games will be extended for a minute and a half.

Color-Similarity: Ecuador will use its alternate costume in its commitment to Brazil. In the Paraguay-Venezuela match both teams will wear his main jersey, the team combined with the Guarani shorts and white socks and Venezuela have eleven colored burgundy shorts and socks.

He recalled that there will be workshops before each game.

For its part, the treasurer, Romer Osuna, said the following:

The LOC will provide transportation-air chat to each delegation up to 33 people.

-The official ball of the competition is the Nike Tracer Doma. There will be 9 balls available per game, three of which will be customized with data of the game (in the end, give one to each selection as a souvenir).

There will be a control of doping in the 26 matches of the tournament. In that respect there shall be three players per team, with the first two who were subjected to analysis. Drawings will take place after 30 'of the second half of each game. Except in the finals, players must attend immediately drawn to the site allocated for the control, once the game ends.

Every team shall attend the press conference after each meeting. The coach and two players must attend the mandatory meeting with reporters.

-At the end of each match, the television will choose a player to make a two-minute flash interview in the field. He asked the teams to cooperate in this regard.

Dr. Carlos Alarcón, president of the Referees Committee of CONMEBOL, took the floor to the following points:

-On the occasion of the Copa America organized a course on arbitration in the city of Cordoba. In addition to the 10 referees who will be in the tournament, attended by ten others, also the in the highest level. Stringent tests were conducted and physical techniques, with the same rigor as in South Africa 2010, all referees successfully passed the exam, with two exceptions. The Paraguayan referee Carlos Amarilla and the Brazilian Marcio Santiago assistant referee failed the test, and Dr. Alarcón explained that the cold temperature experienced at this time of year was a detrimental factor at this point. Both referees are still on the list of the tournament, following which there are good chances of recovery.

He explained that following the entry int of a new FIFA regulations on July 1st, will not be allow to use other clothes then the official jersey by the players in the matches. It was clarified that technical pants below the short must be the same color as the jersey.

Finally, the Organizing Committee approved the request of the delegation of Costa Rica to observe a minute's silence as a sign of mourning, before the game against Colombia, on Saturday (2) in Jujuy, in respect of the death of Marshall Dennis, and international player, which occurred this June 23 in a car accident.