Uruguay blames FIFA for World Cup travel chaos as flight to U.S. delayed several hours

Complications with Uruguay’s flight to the United States for their World Cup opener mean they will not arrive in the country until around 24 hours before the game — and the Uruguayan Football Association (AUF) has blamed FIFA for the issues.

Uruguay are set to face Saudi Arabia in their first group-stage match in Miami on Monday at 6pm ET. However, the flight that the Uruguayan delegation was scheduled to board from Cancún, Mexico was not authorized to enter the U.S., according to multiple reports in Uruguay.

A second plane was then commissioned to take the squad to South Florida. AUF released the following statement on Sunday: “Due to problems beyond the control of the AUF, the departure from Mexico has been delayed. The squad is resting at the hotel. The new departure time set by FIFA is 4.15pm.”

When The Athletic asked an AUF spokesperson if the delays had been FIFA’s fault, the spokesperson responded, “Correct.” FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Sunday, AUF’s official X account shared former Uruguay striker Diego Forlan’s message in 2010, in which he bemoaned the fact that the national team’s charter flight had been delayed an hour one day before its first World Cup game. “Who is to blame???,” Forlan wrote, followed by “Arriba Uruguay!!”

Uruguay held a training session on Sunday morning in Cancún. Head coach Marcelo Bielsa and central defender Jose Maria Gimenez were scheduled to speak to reporters in Miami at 6.45pm local time. That news conference has been rescheduled for 8pm. If it does not take place, the AUF could find itself sanctioned by FIFA.

During the 2024 Conmebol Copa América, Bielsa said the tournament, which was held in the U.S., had not been professionally organized. He referred to Conmebol as “a plague of liars.” “They do press conferences and say ‘No, the fields are perfect, the training pitches are perfect.’… I have all the photos that show that these are all lies.”

“The United States, Bielsa continued, “I’ll remind you, when they felt their interests were being attacked, they created FIFAGate. With the FBI. They did what they did, but it was for their interests. Here? Nothing happened. This was a fantastic party, a competitive tournament, there’s nothing to complain about.”