Why is there a soccer league in Colombia every day? Dimayor and Win Sports explain

Colombian soccer doesn't stop. This year it has been played almost every day: from January 19 when the championship started and until March 4, that is, in 46 days, there are only three days without matches, with TV programming almost daily, which has aroused criticism from fans and the Association of Professional Footballers, Acolfutpro.

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It is pointed out that the main problem is the calendar, since the Dimayor must schedule the 54 dates that there are in the year, 27 in each tournament, which leaves it no room for maneuver, especially this year in which there are also Libertadores Cups and Sudamericana, plus Copa América, U-20 Women's World Cup, the B and Women's League.
The format of two leagues a year with a round-robin phase and semi-final quadrangles generates a greater number of matches unlike the European format of a single annual tournament. Even the same two tournaments with play offs instead of home runs as the Dimayor administration proposed to the teams. Colombian soccer is the one in which the most games are played in the year, as reported in 2021 by Acolfutpro, with more than 3,000 games, surpassing Spain and Argentina.

As it is, matches have been scheduled almost every day, no more than 3 per date. The pace is frenetic: the championship began on January 19 and has only stopped on January 23 and 29, the 24th, which was the Super League, and until March 4 there will be only one other free date, February 20. Between the start of the League this semester and the ninth date that will end on February 29, barely a month and a half will have passed and almost half of the round-robin phase will have already been played with a total of 90 games.

The Dimayor administration tried to modify the format to reduce the number of matches, but only managed to eliminate the extra classics date. Fernando Jaramillo, its president, argues: “We have unavoidable contractual commitments and that makes the calendar very tight… It is impossible to schedule differently. It's not Dimayor's fault. International competitions also affect us, like the Copa América that forces us to finish 8 days early.”

Juan Carlos Pena, president of Win Sports, the official Colombian soccer TV channel, said: “There is no intention on Win's part to extend the dates to have one match to broadcast at least per day. Our logic is more in terms of sports in accordance with Dimayor and the teams to be able to comply with the calendars. There are a thousand variables to establish the schedules: the lighting of some stadiums, the weather, the concerts, the other competitions such as B, the Copa América, the Women's League; Also, the 72 hours of rest for the players… It's not how everyone would like it to be,” he says.

Peña adds: “The match agenda is carefully prepared to comply with all the variables. The weeks and dates are not static: we try to help the teams with the primary interest of safeguarding the sporting part of the competition and the championship. We are guided by fundamental things: defending the ecosystem that is made up of the sports part, competition and generating the resources that Dimayor wants.”

Acolfutpro points to the TV

The pace of competition does not allow time to rest and that is the main complaint of Acolfutpro, which is going head-to-head against Win. “The tournament does not allow rest as established by labor law. There are up to 3 games per week. A team with an international cup on average will play every 3.5 days; one that plays the national cup, every 4.6 days, and those that do not have cups, every 5 days. With the number of parties, there is no payroll that can withstand,” he says. Carlos González Pucheexecutive director of the Association, who emphasizes that the teams have additional wear and tear due to traveling between cities.

Puche attacks the Win channel for this marathon of matches. “We do not understand why TV does not regulate in blocks as is done in other countries, at least on Saturdays and Sundays that are played simultaneously. Because obviously Win goes above everyone's interests and they have to broadcast at different times, 2, 3 games a day,” says Puche.

Peña flatly denied that: “It is not true. Win is never the priority. There are many priorities together that must be adjusted to keep the ecosystem healthy. None can be isolated,” she said.

PABLO ROMERO
SPORTS

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