Marcelo Bielsa gets suspended ahead of encounter against United States in Copa America 2024

The South American soccer governing body has banned Uruguay's coach Marcelo Bielsa for arriving late for the second half of his team's first two Copa America games. CONMEBOL has punished Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa for one match after his squad was late to the pitch in their 5-0 victory against Bolivia on Thursday.

Bielsa will miss his team's encounter against the United States on Monday. The Uruguayan Soccer Association was fined $15,000 by the Confederation of South American Football on Sunday for Bielsa's violation of the tournament's regulations.

Players will be warned after their first infraction of Copa America regulations, which state that they must be on the field at a specific time following the break. The second offence was followed by the sentence. Uruguay defeated Bolivia and Panama by coming out late during the second half.

As per AP News, “I think they need to make a small adjustment to see if they can get the times right,” Peru coach Jorge Fossati said. “At the end of the first half, it’s not the right moment to set the stopwatch — that needs to happen when you get to the locker room,” he added. “In several stadiums, the locker room is a kilometer away, they need to see that.”

Uruguay leads Group C in Copa America

Bielsa's punishment is the same as that granted by CONMEBOL to three other Argentine coaches — Lionel Scaloni (Argentina), Ricardo Gareca (Chile), and Fernando Batista (Venezuela) — for the same reason during the tournament in the United States.

Uruguay, chasing a record 16th Copa America championship, is 2-0 for six points with a plus-seven goal differential and would progress with a tie or even a defeat against the United States on Monday night in Kansas City, Missouri. The United States now has three points and a plus-one goal differential. Uruguay leads Group C with six points after two games, while the Americans are still seeking to get to the quarterfinals.