The South American Football Confederation (CSF) has decided Colombia will not be allowed to host next month's Copa America because of security fears, the president of the powerful Uruguayan football federation, Eugenio Figueredo, said yesterday.

South American football chiefs had warned at a meeting in Buenos Aires on Wednesday that the kidnapping by guerillas of the vice-president of the Colombian football federation, Hernan Mejia Campuzano, "compromises" the staging of the July 11th-29th tournament in Colombia.

Figueredo said that discussions were under way to consider whether another country could step in to host the tournament, which is the South American equivalent of the European championships.

He said Brazil were favourites to take over the staging of the Copa, with Chile next favourite followed by Ecuador then Uruguay.

Colombian officials reacted with sadness to the reports and said such a decision would penalise the strife-torn country.

The country's Education Minister Francisco Jose Lloreda said taking the Copa away from Colombia was "disproportionate and injust because of the efforts made by the country." He said that while Colombians were also upset by the kidnapping of Campuzano, such an event should not lead to the Copa being cancelled or moved elsewhere.

In a bid to head off a last-minute change of host nation, Colombian Football Federation (FCF) head Alvaro Fina insisted late Wednesday that the tournament should go ahead in his country despite the kidnapping.

The 66-year-old Colombian official was seized while travelling from his home to Pereira, about 300km west of Bogota, where some of the matches are due to take place.

Fina said calling off the Copa would constitute a "slap in the face" to the Colombian people but more importantly a "victory for terrorism."

He admitted however the situation would become "critical" if Campuzano was not released by Sunday at the latest.

"This situation affects football on the whole of the continent, compromises the staging of the Copa, and breaks down the goodwill demonstrated on several occasions by Colombia, the host nation of the tournament, and generates a negative impact that in no way contributes to the preservation of the spirit of fair play demanded by the CSF," said the statement.