The crossroads of Colombian sport before the Olympic Games: analysis

Colombian sport is at a crossroads. The instability after the repeated changes in the Ministry of Sports has unleashed a crisis from which we seek to get out as soon as possible, 5 months from Olympic Games.

Since the president of Colombia took office, Gustavo Petro, The Ministry of Sports has had three female ministers.

After one year, seven months and seven days, it has not been possible for a portfolio manager to fully carry out her job with continuity.

The Olympic gold medalist in Sydney 2000, María Isabel, has passed through the position

Big mistakes

Urrutia, who was declared “unsubsistent” by the President himself, “for her indelicate actions with the Nation's budget.”

Urrutia fought a battle against Colombian Olympic Committee (COC), what was the entity

in charge of channeling resources from Mindeporte to the federations.

The former athlete imposed her idea of ​​directly giving the federations the annual money to cover the expenses of each entity, leaving aside the COC, which has harmed streamlining the process for hiring technicians, preparation and participation of athletes in the events.

Then he appointed Astrid Rodríguez, an academic whose position was costed by the loss of the headquarters of the 2027 Pan American Games.

Rodríguez went to Santiago de Chile to ask for an extension of the deadline to pay 8 million dollars requested by the company that owns the rights to the tournament, Panam Sports, and he achieved it.

The country's delegates promised to pay that money in two installments: 4 million before December 31, 2023 and the remainder before the end of January 2024, but it was not fulfilled, so the headquarters was lost.

Rodríguez presented his resignation from his position on February 15, and on March 5 of this year, before President Petro, he took office. Luz Cristina López, who is the new Minister of Sports. That day the president declared that the Ministry had not made progress and that it was a waste of time.

López, in his first intervention, did not allude to the issue. Already, several government actors warn that the polarization that exists in the country has reached sports.

Paris against the clock

The non-continuity of the programs in Mindeporte has ruined the proper functioning of the entity. The Paris Olympic Games will open on July 26, and the Federations do not have the resources to participate in the qualifying events.

Several of the athletes who already have a quota do not have a preparation program outlined for their participation in Paris.

“The delays in the hiring issue have harmed Colombian sports. We are four months away from the Olympics and there are still athletes looking for their place, but some federations are stopped,” he told THE WEATHER Ciro Solanopresident of the COC.

An experienced leader has been Baltazar Medina, who was at the head of the COC between March 3, 2009 and March 10, 2021, and was blunt in saying that the changes in ministers have been very damaging.

“Every seven months a minister is no guarantee that everything is fine. The processes are stopped, everything is changed, it is started again almost from scratch. That for the national sports plan subtracts, it does not add,” Medina said.

For Felix Marrugo, president of the Colombian Athletics Federation, It is urgent to solve the money thing.

“If there is not a new contract by the middle of this month, it could be a debacle. Weight training, athletics, boxing, cycling cannot be done without preparation resources. I hope the new minister assumes the role, we need the contribution now,” Marrugo said.

Maria Emma Gaviria She is the president of the Archery Federation, and points out that the federations must be given the importance they deserve.

“The government has to give support to sport like it gives to other ministries. The entity has to listen to the federations to make decisions. You must count on us, you cannot impose the programs on us. This government does not go much with high performance, it supports it little, but there must be motivation for athletes who are starting out,” said Gaviria.

Clara Luz Roldán was director of Coldeportes between 2016 and 2018. He was the last person to hold the position before it became a ministry and points out that the lack of

Continuity in the Ministry is not a good sign.

“Three ministers in such a short time is not good, because there is no continuity. We are close to the Olympics and a good relationship between Mindeporte and the COC is needed, that is how we managed to become a sporting power at the South American level. We are getting better and better, but with what has happened, not only has the path been lost, but it is difficult to recover it,” said Roldán.

Sport on credit

The problem is so big that some federations have had to work hard to carry out their programs and provide athletes with participation in events.

“I have World Games, But because I don't have the money now I can't stay still. I have been concentrating since last January 9 and the promise is that I will pay them everything I owe them. The concentration has been on loan: hotel, food, etc., but I comply. They just need to expedite the delivery of the money so as not to look bad,” said the president of Tiro con Arco.

And he added: “The Ministry staff has not moved, that has been going on for a long time. It was the worst thing that has happened to the sport. It is an Olympic year and there are qualifiers for the World Games, and the sport is still battered.”

In his statements at López's inauguration ceremony, Petro criticized the functioning of the Ministry of Sports and assured that it was a waste of time.

“What I find in the current Ministry of Sports is that it has been criticized, there are people who have criticized that it has become a Ministry, I am not a big enemy of that thesis, Coldeportes a Ministry. I haven't exactly seen the goodness of having done that, I can't find it, it seems to me that it's more of a waste of time, but that's the norm,” said the president.

Does Mindeporte work?

The reactions to his thesis were immediate. “Of course it helps. When I was director of Coldeportes I managed a budget of 450,000 million a year, being a ministry gives you the option of having, today, a billion pesos. Furthermore, as long as the person in charge of the portfolio is on the council of ministers, it gives them the option of having greater resources and not depending on other ministries,” said Roldán.

Solano points out that the problem is that to execute what must be done, you have to appoint suitable people.

“Capable people must come to the Ministry, who know about sports, suitable for their positions, but since that has not happened, then problems arise,” Solano said.

Marrugo thinks the same as Solano and Roldán and warns that the problem is that there are incompetent and dishonest officials.

“We must tell President Petro that the Ministry's problem is not with the institution, it is with the officials. If there are honest and capable officials, then it works, but if there are not, it is useless. “Sport is a dynamic activity,” said the Colombian athletics leader.

José Luis Echeverri, first vice president of the COC and member of the South American Sports Organization, points out that the big problem is that the Ministry has not been well managed.

“It has hurt because the Ministry has been poorly managed. Urrutia's tenure in office was regrettable. There, the entire problem of the 2027 Pan American Games began to be forged, the plot against the COC and against the executive committee of that entity,” said the Valle del Cauca leader.

Medina went further and proposes that the COC have a different treatment that facilitates all this work that is done. “We must propose a bill that protects the autonomy of the COC. That the financial resources of sport be guaranteed,” said the former director of the Colombian Olympic Committee.

Athletes' voice

Athletes have not been immune to the problem. Twenty-four glories, headed, among others, byr Caterine Ibargüen, Nairo Quintana, Óscar Figueroa, Faustino Asprilla, Santiago Botero, Robert Farah and Juan Sebastián Cabal, sent a letter to the President of the Republic, Gustavo Petro, in which they request a “national sports table” to achieve better planning of activities.

The communication is a confirmation of what some people warn about the arrival of the polarization that exists in Colombia and that has already reached sports.

“Given the situation, we want to request the creation of a 'National Sports Table', in order to join forces,” the letter says.

Ubaldina Valoyes, one of the signatories, a weightlifter and medalist at the 2012 London Olympic Games, warned. “We want to know what is going to happen, what happens. Why don't contributions reach the federations? Why have the money not been delivered and the Ministry has stopped them?” said Valoyes.

Victor Hugo Pena He was the first Colombian cyclist to be leader Tour de France, the most important race in the world, and is one of the driving forces behind the table.

“In the face of this loss of direction or ignorance of some things, we come together and we want athletes who once did something to be given a space, to listen to us. We want to help that government and Mindeporte find help in us. “That what was done well should continue and that what was done badly should not continue,” said Peña.

EL TIEMPO tried to speak with Luz Cristina López, but her advisors warned that it was not possible due to her busy schedule. On Tuesday, at a press conference, he referred to the athletes' proposal.

“We like to see athletes concerned. Talk to Cecilia Baena, She is part of that group, and I told her that we were in the process of building the work tables. It is important that we go to those tables; and that there was going to be a central table of athletes and for athletes. “They know we have made progress,” she noted.

LIsandro Rengifo

Editor of EL TIEMPO

@lisandroabel