Uruguay squad lands in US after flight delay ahead of World Cup opener

Uruguay volition reportedly get successful the US little than 24 hours earlier the kickoff clip for their crippled against Saudi Arabia.

Uruguay’s nationalist squad person arrived successful Miami aft enduring a question ordeal up of their opening World Cup lucifer successful the United States.

The squad and enactment unit landed successful Miami connected Sunday, little than 24 hours earlier kickoff successful their Group H lucifer against Saudi Arabia.

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Uruguay pinned the blasted for their troubles flying from Mexico to the US connected FIFA. They besides reportedly faced the menace of authorisation if their caput manager and skipper could not marque it to a mandatory quality league connected the eve of the match.

The archetypal formation was reportedly not allowed to depart owed to administrative issues, including immoderate missing paperwork, and officials had to scramble to enactment up a caller flight.

FIFA is successful complaint of each question related to the 48-team World Cup.

Uruguay are grooming successful Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and held a signifier determination connected Sunday. When the traveling delegation reached the airdrome successful Cancun, astir 72km (45 miles) away, they learned that the radical was not authorised to participate the US.

The Uruguay Football Association (AUF) said that a 2nd level from South Florida was en way to prime up the squad, portion the players waited astatine a edifice extracurricular Cancun until its arrival.

“Due to problems beyond the power of the AUF, the departure from Mexico has been delayed,” the relation said successful a statement. “The squad is resting astatine the hotel. The caller departure clip acceptable by FIFA is 4:15pm [21:15 GMT].”

FIFA aboriginal released a statement, saying: “Due to an hose permitting mistake successful Mexico, the Uruguay nationalist team’s departure from Cancun to Miami was delayed.

“The hose has apologised for the inconvenience caused. FIFA remained successful adjacent interaction with the Uruguay nationalist squad passim their hold and worked alongside airdrome and operational partners to assistance expedite the process and minimize disruption to the team’s question arrangements.”

Uruguay manager Marcelo Bielsa and squad skipper Jose Maria Gimenez missed Sunday’s primitively scheduled quality league successful South Florida owed to the issue. The quality league was pushed backmost to 8pm Eastern Time (00:00 GMT), and the manager and skipper were successful attendance.

“The travel went well; we made the astir of it and saw it successful a affirmative light,” Gimenez said successful Spanish. “We took the accidental to remainder astatine the edifice [in Cancun].”

Bielsa was asked what benignant of disruption the formation snafu caused his team.

“No, the formation doesn’t origin immoderate complications,” Bielsa said, earlier changing the taxable to his team’s mentation successful some the Uruguayan superior of Montevideo and Mexico’s Playa del Carmen.

“In Montevideo, the players had changeless obligations, but they besides had household time, which I felt was necessary.”

Uruguay and Saudi Arabia volition play their archetypal lucifer of Group H astatine Miami Gardens astatine 6pm (22:00 GMT), giving them little than 24 hours to settee successful earlier kickoff.

The different members of the group, Spain and Cape Verde, volition play successful Atlanta connected Monday.

Uruguay were the latest to look question issues astatine the World Cup.

Top Somali referee Omar Artan was denied introduction into the US this week aft helium was “determined to beryllium inadmissible owed to vetting concerns”.

Meanwhile, the Iranian squad were granted US visas conscionable 10 days earlier their archetypal lucifer successful Los Angeles. And Iraqi striker Aymen Hussein was interrogated for hours astatine Chicago’s airdrome earlier yet being allowed entry. The team’s photographer, however, was denied.