The result of an opinion poll, on Friday, showed that nearly two-thirds of Brazilians oppose their country’s hosting of the Copa America soccer tournament, amid fears of an outbreak of Corona (Covid-19).
The Confederation of South American Football announced last week that the headquarters of the tournament, which starts on Sunday, will be moved to Brazil, with the support of the country’s President Jair Bolsonaro.
Brazil welcomed the tournament after the failure of the idea of joint organization due to popular protests in Colombia, and the withdrawal of Argentina due to the increase in HIV infections.
Bolsonaro played down the seriousness of the virus, and opposed general isolation measures, even though the epidemic caused the deaths of more than 480,000 Brazilians. Health experts, courts and players questioned the wisdom of the decision to move the tournament to Brazil, at a time when major sponsors withdrew from the tournament.
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The poll was based on 1,000 interviews conducted between 7 and 10 June.