One of the World Cup’s most notable teams blamed FIFA after their travel to their first game was delayed.
Uruguay, which has won the tournament twice, was left waiting for the right permissions before its players and staff could fly to the US on Sunday.
The squad was training in Cancún, Mexico, ahead of its first game, set for Monday evening in Miami against Saudi Arabia.
However, the airplane scheduled to take them to Florida wasn’t authorized to enter the US because of paperwork issues, according to reports in the Uruguayan media.
“Due to problems beyond the control of the AUF, the departure from Mexico has been delayed,” the Uruguayan Football Association, or AUF, said in a statement to several outlets.
An AUF spokesperson also told The Athletic that the delay was FIFA’s fault.
FIFA said in a statement that the flight was delayed “due to an airline permitting error in Mexico.”
“The airline has apologized for the inconvenience caused,” it added. “FIFA remained in close contact with the Uruguay national team throughout their delay and worked alongside airport and operational partners to help expedite the process and minimize disruption to the team’s travel arrangements.”
The AUF did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside US working hours.
After the Uruguay team arrived in Florida on a different plane, the team’s coach downplayed the issue. At a press conference on Sunday night, Marcelo Bielsa told journalists: “No, the flight didn’t cause us any complications.”
The team’s captain, José María Giménez, added: “We had a little mishap, but nothing serious.”
“We took advantage of the situation and saw it as a good opportunity to rest at the hotel,” he said.
While the World Cup kicked off last Thursday, several travel issues have already been reported.
Omar Artan, a Somalian referee, was turned away after being interrogated at Miami Airport. Iran moved their base from Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico, as several members of its delegation were denied US visas. Ghanaian midfielder Thomas Partey will miss the team’s first game after being denied a visa by Canada. He has been charged with seven counts of rape in England and is awaiting trial.
Many fans have also said that their visas were withdrawn shortly before the tournament started.
With 48 teams playing 105 games in 14 host cities across North America over the next five weeks, there could be more travel difficulties to come.
