Lights and shadows of the action plan against violence in Colombian football

The bad behavior of fans has worsened in recent weeks. Field invasions, seats on fire, fights in the stands between fans of the same club, confrontations and even robberies on the roads have occupied minutes in the media and publications on networks.

And the situation becomes even more difficult in the midst of a situation: the decision of the National Government to dismantle the presence of the police in the stadiums, in accordance with a ruling from the Constitutional Court.

This Thursday there was a technical meeting of the National Security Commission, Comfort and Coexistence in Football, convened by the Ministry of Interiorin which, for the first time, representatives of the Government, the Police, the Football Federation, the Dimayor, the footballers (through Acolfutpro), fans and the media.

The first attempt, on March 18, failed after the soccer leaders got up from the table when they noticed the presence of the members of the players' union.

The concern for the dismantling of the police presence in stadiums it is latent in all parties involved. It will be gradual: in the first year, it will be 40 percent less, in 2025 it will be 70 percent and in 2026, 80 percent.

“We do not have the powers from a logistical point of view to search a person, to remove a person from the stadium.”

“It is unthinkable that we can contain in a match, for example, a America-National, Millionaires-National, Millionaires-America or America-Junior, that is impossible from a containment point of view. We do not have the powers from a logistical point of view to seize a person, to remove a person from the stadium,” Jaramillo explained to EL TIEMPO before yesterday's meeting, which was headed by the Vice Minister of the Interior, Diego Cancino.

“The Police have to be our partner for a long time to come, until the conditions of the country change and we can reach that point. The Police have a constitutional duty, although they interpret it differently,” he added.

Alejandro Villanueva, sociologist and expert in handling the issue of popular bars, believes that this dismantling can be done gradually. “The police must be replaced by logistics and security teams, maintained and paid for by the clubs. The football spectacle is private, with large investments from the public sector. It makes no sense to bring 1,300 police officers to a classic while the city is left unprotected, favoring the interests of a private show. The trend is to have its own stadiums and its own logistics,” he explained.

Villanueva recalled that there is already a ten-year plan for security and coexistence in football, but it ends this year. At yesterday's meeting, the first steps were taken for what will be a new “national agreement for coexistence and peace in the football ecosystem.” There will be a new meeting on April 18.

Another of the steps that has stalled the process is the implementation of identification mechanisms for fans who enter the stadiums from the moment they acquire the ticket. In August 2022, a six-month deadline was set by decree to implement it, but the Ministry of Sports did not do so, arguing that it did not have the resources to do so.

“There are ticket office operators who are already doing the task. W Arena has made a lot of progress on this issue and today, for fans who go to the Cali stadium, that ticket is uploaded directly to the document. If a person is an offender, the national validation system is consulted and is blocked,” explained Alirio Amaya, an expert in coexistence and security issues.

“What you have to do is cross the databases so that the fans are sanctioned. The authorities have to do the same. There are already laws that have two variables, fine and restriction, which are very specific for football. With the uploading of the ballot to the document, the cart of identification ends,” Amaya added.

It should be remembered that during the administration of Jorge Enrique Vélez in Dimayor, in 2017, an enrollment process began in which each fan paid 11,900 pesos. More than 240,000 people met the requirement, but that came to nothing and the resources were never returned.

The security issue has player representatives concerned. If the police presence is dismantled, it could have consequences.

“We, with concern, expressed to the Minister of the Interior that this situation puts the footballers at serious risk; First, because there is no barrier to access to the field and the players and referees are exposed, there is no way to contain the fans in accordance with the provision to remove those protections. Furthermore, there is no way to identify the aggressors, it is not known who is in the stadium. For this reason, the man from Tolima who attacked Daniel Cataño (in February 2023) later comes out and takes photos in the stadium,” said the executive director of Acolfutpro, Carlos González Puche.

The Government and the Police remain firm in their position of removing the stadiums because, in addition to the specific allocation of troops to control football matches, they also have to go out to repress in the neighborhoods when violent events occur. With an additional argument: they say that this is free for the clubs and is paid for with taxpayers' taxes.

Jaramillo assures that this is not the case. “We pay taxes, we pay 10 percent of the show. Tickets in Bogotá, for example, pay 22 percent, plus what the clubs pay on their own. That means that in some way, not to demand the police service, but as citizens who give a very important show for this country, to ask that there be consideration with us from the point of view of the service that is provided, because it is a show for everyone,” he declared.

Already in mid-2023, Dimayor had to postpone several games due to not having the presence of the police to control security, for reasons unrelated to football.

“We had to postpone because there was patrol day and for other reasons. This shows that the police are essential to the show. We cannot assume responsibility for security in the stadium because we do not have the powers,” Jaramillo insisted.

“That becomes very complex when issues of violence have been seen repeatedly in recent times. I think it is the worst time to do that in Colombia. We must have co-responsibility. It is clear that we have it, because we have logistics that helps the police, but it cannot be left alone because it does not have any type of power, neither repressive, nor preventive, nor anything,” added the leader.

Acolfutpro shares that concern. “What powers do these surveillance companies have to retain and bring the aggressors before the police authorities? That is not regulated. The only one who can make that retention is the police. These gaps must be resolved and a solution found,” said González Puche.

The association's director added that the problem extends outside the stadiums, where several campuses have received attacks and threats. Although yesterday there was progress: there was already direct contact with the Prosecutor's Office to report this type of actions.

“There have already been problems at training sites, at airports, on the roads. There they have been attacked, as happened with Deportivo Cali, with Deportes Quindío,” González Puche recalled.

Plazas such as Cartagena, Santa Marta, Cali and, more recently, Bogotá and Medellín suffered acts of violence between fans. Yesterday a step was taken to try to find a solution.

JOSÉ ORLANDO ASCENCIO

SPORTS Deputy Editor

@Josasc

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