Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa claims his players deserve an apology, not sanctions, for entering the stands at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte and participating in a fight with Colombia fans following his team's 1-0 Copa America semi-final loss.

An angry Bielsa criticised tournament organisers for not doing enough to protect families of players seated behind the Uruguay bench and he justified players taking matters into their own hands by entering the stands to protect their loved ones.

"We are in the United States, the country of security," Bielsa said through an interpreter during an emotionally-charged 45-minute news conference on Friday.

"How can you not defend your mother, your sister, a baby? If they did not do it, they would have been condemned by all of us."

CONMEBOL, South American soccer's governing body, said on Thursday that their disciplinary committee have opened an investigation. "It is unacceptable that an incident like this turns passion into violence," their statement said.

Asked if he feared sanctions for his team, Bielsa grew irate. "The sanction does not have to be for the footballers, but for those who forced them to act like this," he said. "This is a witch hunt. It is a shame."

Uruguay had the option of seating families in luxury boxes instead of in the crowd.

The team return to the same venue for Saturday night's third-place game against Canada. While the crowd is expected to be more subdued, the same level of security is planned.

A raucous crowd of more than 70,000 - at least 90 per cent in support of Colombia and wearing the nation's colours — descended Wednesday night on the downtown Charlotte stadium.

There were only a few small patches of Uruguay fans in the crowd at the start of the game, many of them behind the team's bench.

After an emotional and physical game that included seven yellow cards and one red, a fight broke out in the stands and drinks were thrown. Shoving and punches ensued. The melee grew in terms of the magnitude of people before involved before more than a dozen Uruguay players, including Darwin Núñez, climbed a small set of portable stairs and into the crowd.

Bielsa said not enough precautions were in place and an emergency exit path for Uruguay fans was not provided.

Many in the Uruguayan soccer association delegation got away from the fighting by climbing down on to the playing field while Mecklenburg County Police and security restored order as the stadium was cleared.