Uruguay manager Marcelo Bielsa says his players deserve an apology from Colombia fans for the brawl that broke out following his side’s Copa America semi-final defeat on Wednesday.

Disorder broke out between a number of Uruguay players – led by Liverpool forward Darwin Nunez – and a set of Colombia fans in the stands at the Bank of America Stadium in North Carolina.

The Colombia fans were seated in an area where many family members of the Uruguay squad were also sitting.

Conmebol. South American football’s governing body, has opened an investigation into the incident, with suggestions that some Uruguay players could face bans for their actions.

“How can you not defend your mother, your sister, a baby?” Bielsa said in a press conference before his side’s third-place play-off against Canada.

“If they did not do it, they would have been condemned by all of us.”

Asked if he feared sanctions for his team, Bielsa said: “The sanction does not have to be for the footballers, but for those who forced them to act like this.

“This is a witch hunt. It is a shame.”

More than 70,000 fans were in attendance in Charlotte, with estimates suggesting more than 90% of the crowd was there in support of Colombia.

More than a dozen Uruguay players climbed into the crowd during the melee, which lasted more than five minutes.

The Copa America is being held in the United States for the second time, as the country prepares to co-host the 2026 World Cup, but Bielsa says not enough has been done to protect his players.

“We are in the United States, the country of security,” he said.