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

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The squad and support staff landed in Miami on Sunday, less than 24 hours before kickoff in their Group H match against Saudi Arabia. Uruguay pinned the blame for their troubles flying from Mexico to the US on FIFA. They also reportedly faced the threat of sanction if their head coach and captain could not make it to a mandatory news conference on the eve of the match. The original flight was reportedly not allowed to depart due to administrative issues, including some missing paperwork, and officials had to scramble to line up a new flight. FIFA is in charge of all travel related to the 48-team World Cup. Uruguay are training in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and held a practice there on Sunday. When the traveling delegation reached the airport in Cancun, approximately 72km (45 miles) away, they learned that the group was not authorised to enter the US. The Uruguay Football Association (AUF) said that a second plane from South Florida was en route to pick up the squad, while the players waited at a resort outside Cancun until its arrival. “Due to problems beyond the control of the AUF, the departure from Mexico has been delayed,” the association said in a statement. “The squad is resting at the hotel. The new departure time set by FIFA is 4:15pm [21:15 GMT].” FIFA later released a statement, saying: “Due to an airline permitting error in Mexico, the Uruguay national team’s departure from Cancun to Miami was delayed. “The airline has apologised for the inconvenience caused. 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.” Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa and team captain Jose Maria Gimenez missed Sunday’s originally scheduled news conference in South Florida due to the issue. The news conference was pushed back to 8pm Eastern Time (00:00 GMT), and the coach and captain were in attendance. “The trip went well; we made the most of it and saw it in a positive light,” Gimenez said in Spanish. “We took the chance to rest at the hotel [in Cancun].” Bielsa was asked what sort of disruption the flight snafu caused his team. “No, the flight doesn’t cause any complications,” Bielsa said, before changing the subject to his team’s preparation in both the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo and Mexico’s Playa del Carmen. “In Montevideo, the players had constant obligations, but they also had family time, which I felt was necessary.” Uruguay and Saudi Arabia will play their first match of Group H at Miami Gardens at 6pm (22:00 GMT), giving them less than 24 hours to settle in before kickoff. The other members of the group, Spain and Cape Verde, will play in Atlanta on Monday. Uruguay were the latest to face travel issues at the World Cup. Top Somali referee Omar Artan was denied entry into the US this week after he was “determined to be inadmissible due to vetting concerns”. Meanwhile, the Iranian team were granted US visas just 10 days before their first match in Los Angeles. And Iraqi striker Aymen Hussein was interrogated for hours at Chicago’s airport before eventually being allowed entry. The team’s photographer, however, was denied. 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