Associated Press

Hours after South American soccer body CONMEBOL announced Brazil will host Copa America within two weeks, a key government minister said a final decision is yet to be made.

The comments by Chief-of-Staff Luiz Eduardo Ramos Monday night add to doubts affecting the tournament since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the region more than a year ago.

Ramos told journalists in Brasilia there is no signed document securing virus plagued Brazil will organize the tournament for the second consecutive time after Colombia and Argentina were stripped of hosting rights.

Local health experts and politicians are criticizing President Jair Bolsonaro for accepting the troubled event in one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic.

Earlier the CONMEBOL president Alejandro Dominguez announced the move, shortly after Argentina was ruled out amid an increase in COVID-19 cases in the country.

Colombia was removed as co-host on May 20 as street protests against President Ivan Duque rocked the nation.

CONMEBOL added that the tournament is confirmed to take place between June 13 and July 10.

Brazil is the defending champion, winning the competition in 2019 as hosts.

More than 460,000 people have died of COVID-19 in Brazil, a figure that is second only to the United States.

Many analysts are expecting another wave of the disease to hit the country by late June.