Soccer-Colombia to request Copa America postponement-sports minister

Soccer fans play the drums during a sit-in, in front of the Colombian Football Federation (FCF), demanding the cancellation of the 2021 Copa America tournament that Colombia co-hosts with Argentina, in Bogota, Colombia May 18, 2021. REUTERS/Nathalia Angarita

BOGOTA (Reuters) -Protest-hit Colombia will ask the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) to postpone the Copa America tournament until spectators can be present at stadiums, sports minister Ernesto Lucena said on Thursday.

The tournament, due to kick off in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires on June 13, is set to be held in two countries for the first time in its 105-year history.