Brazil has been hit hard by the pandemic, with nearly 463,000 deaths. with the competition due to start next week, the South American Football Association (Conmebol) has received widespread criticism after they announced on Monday that Brazil would be hosting the event.

President Bolsonaro said the decision was not up for discussion and that the tournament, which involves players across South America, did not pose a health risk. He said on Tuesday that he had spoken with the health minister and they had agreed to host the event.

Criticism come from Sen Otto Alencar who appealed to Neymar for assistance and Neymar replied by saying ” I want to tell you something: You shouldn’t agree with the holding of this America’s Cup in Brazil! Don’t agree to this. It is not this championship that we need to now compete in. We need to compete in the vaccination championship,” he said.

The Copa America was originally set to be co-hosted by Argentina and Colombia in 2020 but the tournament was pushed back a year due to the pandemic.

Colombia were removed as hosts last month amid widespread protests against the government, with Argentina later stripped of the role too due to rising Covid-19 cases.