The Superintendency of Industry and Commerce (SIC) opened an investigation and formulated a statement of charges against the Colombian Football Federation, Dimayor and the majority of the teams that have participated in the Women’s Soccer League since 2017 due to a possible ‘salary cartelization’ in the hiring of players.
(You may be interested: SIC charges clubs and Dimayor for possible ‘cartelization’ in the Women’s League)
In the extensive Resolution, of 81 pages, and with number 56062 of September 20, 2023, the entity is motivated by an ex officio investigation by the SIC on May 23 in which “the hypothesis that suggests that “The market agents in question would have developed a system aimed at limiting free economic competition in the women’s professional soccer league market in Colombia, from 2017 to the present.”
The document specifies that this “anti-competitive system” would have been composed of a set of four actions “that would have been planned and executed by those investigated.”
Soccer counterattack
Unofficial sources consulted by EL TIEMPO, but close to the leadership of the Football Federation, said that this Friday there is an informal meeting at the Dimayor, cited prior to this decision of the SIC, in which the issue was going to be discussed. with pending work with the Colombian Soccer Players Association, but they will take the opportunity to address this new situation presented.
They indicate that since this Thursday the possibility of denouncing the situation to Fifa as a state intervention was being studied.
It is known that a government intervention in football could cause serious consequences such as Colombia’s disaffiliation from the entity.
This would mean losing the headquarters of the Women’s U-20 World Cup and the participation of the men’s soccer team in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers and the next Copa América.
The case
This is the result of a long investigation, in which the clubs were asked for data on income, expenses, financial statements and balance sheets. As EL TIEMPO reported on May 23, the inspection was a surprise, and cell phones and computers, among other items, were seized.
That day it was noted that all players are paid, regardless of the club they are in, the minimum salary, which in the country is 1,160,000 pesos and the transportation allowance is 140,606 pesos.
The teams investigated are Real Cartagena, Real Santander, Santa Fe, Patriotas, Pasto, Quindío, Tolima, Junior, DIM, Chicó, Bucaramanga, Magdalena, Fortaleza, Huila, Orsomarso, Pereira, Bogotá, Nacional, Millonarios, Deportivo Cali, Alianza, Envigado, Cortuluá, La Equidad, Cúcuta, América, Atlético FC, Once Caldas and Llaneros. In addition to Dimayor and the Colombian Football Federation.
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