By FRANCO PANIZO

WASHINGTON — Proud fans clad in red and white swarmed the hotel of the Peruvian national team last week and waited hours in the lobby just to get a selfie or catch a glimpse of their favorite players. They also managed to make their ways to practice sessions during work hours, and drove in packs to RFK Stadium to loudly root on their country.

All that passion served as a preview of what could come next summer in a tournament that Peru head coach Ricardo Gareca hopes will be played.

The status of the 2016 Copa America Centenario continues to be up int he air amid allegations of bribery that came via the U.S. Department of Justice’s indictment earlier this year. The 16-team competition is scheduled to be held in the United States next June, but the U.S. Soccer Federation has not given a definitive answer yet as to whether the tournament will be played.

There has been talk in South America in recent weeks of potentially moving the 2016 Copa America to another country, but Gareca is still holding out hope that the tournament marking 100 years of the CONMEBOL championship can take place in its original location.

“Here in the United States fans congregate from all of South America,” Gareca told SBI last week. “I think it would be nice for foreign fans to see their respective national teams that they might not have the chance to see or can only see on television. I think that’d be a great thing. It’s certainly not a bad thing.”

“Hopefully, it happens,” Gareca added. “If it was already planned, hopefully it does happen. Honestly, it would be great for us to participate in another tournament.”

No stranger to the United States, Gareca has seen soccer in the North American nation grow. The Argentine has spent multiple summers in the U.S. for vacation, and has also come over with some of the teams he has managed.

Each time he has visited, Gareca has noticed there being more of an interest in the U.S. Men’s National Team and in soccer in general. Stadiums are filling up, more games are being played, coverage continues to grow, and – as evidenced by Peru’s stay in Washington, D.C. – there is a hunger to see other national teams compete in an up-close-and-personal setting.

That increased popularity, the fact that he thinks the U.S. has grand organizational skills, and the competition that the 2016 Copa America would provide Peru are all reasons why he is crossing his fingers for the tournament to be played.

Of course, the complicated matters stemming from the bribe allegations would have to somehow be resolved off the field for the action to take place next summer. But Gareca sees a benefit in having it for several parties, especially the United States.

“After World Cups, the U.S. has always attempted to grow as a soccer nation and have more outreach,” said Gareca. “(Another major international competition) would incentive the fans to be further invested, and to host the Centenario tournament would be a great thing, in my opinion.

“It would give (the U.S.) the chance to grow further as a soccer nation.”