A South African coach based in the United States, has given his account to KickOff on whether the country is ready to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup after fan violence and chaos at the Copa America final.
Before the Copa America final between Argentina and Colombia, the tournament hosted in the United States, there were stampedes and hordes of fans breaching security, by entering the Rock Hard Stadium without tickets.
Although no deaths were reported, the ugly and chaotic scenes injured a number of fans, as the United State' ability to host the upcoming FIFA World in two years, were questioned.
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La Albiceleste went on to win the Copa America crown after edging Colombia 1-0 in extra-time.
However, the violence, which erupted before and during the game, with thousands of supporters in life threatening situations, has put a dent in the USA's readiness in organizing the 2026 world football showpiece.
South African-born coach Kyle Timm, who started his coaching career in the United States since 2012, spoke to Kickoff exclusively, on the perception that USA is not ready to host the next World Cup.
"America, they are very ready to host the World Cup, there's no question," Timm, who is now the head coach at University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros (UTRGV) told KickOff.
"Here's my personal opinion on what happened with that situation, see American sports fans are not...I don't wanna say hooligans.
"Football fans from other places they are a lot more, how do I say it nicely, passionate, intense. So Americans (organizers ) they maybe underestimated [effect of foreign supporters," Timm said.
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"Because if you go to MLS events, it's a family environment. The Colombia, Argentina match you're talking about is a South American rivalry, already before the game there's fighting.
"In the American game you don't see those things. I think they didn't really anticipate that type of a thing, up until that point the Copa America was running smoothly. But trust me it won't happen again or if it happens again they'll shut it very quickly," Timm added.