Uruguay is on its way to Miami, finally.
The national team left Mexico on Sunday, Telemundo reported, but not until after a paperwork problem that held up its flight and delayed a scheduled press conference for manager Marcelo Bielsa.
Uruguay is scheduled to play its World Cup opener against Saudi Arabia on Monday, June 15 at the Hard Rock Stadium outside of Miami.
For much of Sunday, the squad was stuck. Players waited at the Mayakoba resort outside Cancun, about 45 minutes from the airport, while the federation sorted out the documentation for the trip into the United States, according to The Independent.
The Uruguayan team spokesman told The Athletic that FIFA was to blame. FIFA downplayed the incident, saying "an airline permitting issue" was to blame.
"Due to an airline permitting error in Mexico, the Uruguay national team’s departure from Cancun to Miami was delayed. The airline has apologized for the inconvenience caused," FIFA said in a statement. "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 and Saudi Arabia are scheduled to kickoff on Monday at 6 p.m. ET. Uruguay will then face Cape Verde on June 21 at the same venue before heading back to Mexico to play Spain in Guadalajara on June 26.
The trouble is not Uruguay’s alone.
Visa and travel snags have trailed the first World Cup split across the United States, Mexico and Canada. Somali referee Omar Artan was denied entry into the country and will not work the tournament. Palestinian football federation president Jibril Rajoub said Friday he was still waiting to be let in.
The State Department has said it is weighing each World Cup visa case on its own after what it called rigorous vetting, and that it will not bend on U.S. law or national security. Uruguay sits on the administration’s immigration visa pause list, which means added scrutiny for travelers.
Contributing: Nancy Armour
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Source: USA Today