The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) celebrates its national team championship, the Copa América 2021, in Brazil between June 13th and July 10th. The event would have taken place in 2020 if it had not been for the pandemic.  Although the championship was initially held in two countries, Argentina and Colombia, the current health crisis and political developments have now led Brazil to host the competition.

With the priority objective of maintaining a COVID-free zone, during the competition period, CONMEBOL will provide a Medical Commission for this great event. A team of professionals, which will include Francisco Forriol, professor at the Faculty of Medicine, will provide a 24-hour medical service throughout the championship to national and technical teams, officials and other attendees.

Given the absence of spectators, the main priority this year will focus on the health of the teams, technicians, officials and referees.  Their health will be strictly monitored through PCR tests carried out every five days. Since January an effort has been made to create a protocol for the monitoring of players and coaches in their personal lives and while training and competing. This will also cover travelling and living in hotels, where a COVID social bubble will have to be maintained.

While in Rio de Janeiro, the surgeon will assess the pre-competition evaluations and will continue to collect data on any injuries that may occur to the players during the competition with the aim of creating an epidemiological database. In addition, he will carry out anti-doping controls and coordinate the referral hospitals for the teams, as this time there will be no spectators.