Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa has been suspended for the Copa America match against the United States

NEW YORK (AP) — Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa has been suspended by the South American Football Association for leaving the field late in the second half of the first two Copa America matches. He will therefore miss his team’s match against the United States on Monday.

The Confederation of South American Football said on Sunday that Bielsa violated tournament rules and fined the Uruguayan Football Federation $15,000.

Copa America rules state that players must be on the pitch at a certain time after half-time and that they are cautioned for a first offence. The penalty came after the second offence. Uruguay came out of the woods late in the second half with wins over Panama and Bolivia.

Bielsa’s penalty is the same one that CONMEBOL gave to three other Argentine coaches — Lionel Scaloni (Argentina), Ricardo Gareca (Chile) and Fernando Batista (Venezuela) — for the same reason during the tournament held in the US.

“I think they need to make a little adjustment to see if they can get the times right,” Bielsa said. “At the end of the first half is not the right time to set the stopwatch — that should be done when you get to the locker room,” he added. “In several stadiums the dressing room is a kilometer away, they have to see that.”

Looking for its record 16th Copa America title, Uruguay is 2-0 for six points with a plus-seven goal difference and would advance at least a draw, if not a loss, against the USA in Kansas City, Missouri on Monday evening . The US has three points and a difference of plus one goal.