A decision by the Ministry of Labor and a new investigation by the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce (SIC) once again put the Colombian soccer leaders in check, who lived a week with many meetings to try to face a complicated panorama.
The questions grow. And especially with the SIC, with which they already had a sanction and then suffered a new setback. The Colombian Football Federation already had to pay a fine of 16 billion pesos due to the resale of tickets in the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Now, in less than a week, Dimayor had to call two extraordinary assemblies: one to analyze the panorama of the negotiation of the statement of objections that the Colombian Association of Professional Soccer Players (Acolfutpro) presented since September 2019 and had not had any progress, and now, the opening of a new investigation by the SIC, which analyzes whether free competition is being prevented in the case of the Women’s League.
The president of Dimayor, Fernando Jaramillo, is the only one who has come out to talk about what happened. Although he announced that they will collaborate in all cases, in a certain way, he let off steam in a press conference he gave on Friday.
“There are entities in the Government, not all, that are not aware of what they are doing and the impact they would have on Colombian football,” Jaramillo was honest. “There I have to say it, there is an incoherence within the national government, however, we will continue working with the players, fans and everyone involved within the football ecosystem,” he added.
What are the Federation and Dimayor facing?
Alexis Faruth Perea, lawyer specialized in Competition Law, explained to EL TIEMPO the consequences that it could have for the Colombian Football Federation, Dimayor and the 29 clubs that are being investigated by the SIC, If the issue is not favorable to them: they face a fine of up to 116 billion pesos.
However, Perea assures that this case of the Women’s League could have some mitigating factors. It should be remembered that the SIC investigates several specific points: the possible existence of a table of contracts in terms of duration and salaries, the inclusion of the image rights of the players without additional remuneration and for a period longer than the employment relationship, the broadcast of the tournament matches in the contract with Win Sports and the fact that, despite the fact that the FCF and Dimayor allege a lack of resources, they would not have received money from the Government so as not to have to be accountable to the control bodies for handling of public money.
Perea considers that the circumstances of the Women’s League are particular and puts a simile on that topic: “In Lima they make cardboard shoes. It doesn’t usually rain there. A person bought some shoes and the day he put them on, as a rare thing in Lima, it rained. The shoes disintegrated. This person filed a complaint with the intention of banning the use of cardboard shoes in Peru. The investigation was closed, based on the fact that for the poor, the only alternative was to go barefoot. The law could not be implemented in the same way: by protecting one consumer, the majority are unprotected.”
In the case of the Women’s League, it is a market that is just under construction. “It is good that these investigations are opened. But if they end up archiving it later, it is not a defeat or a waste of time, but rather laying some foundations and seeing that the market has to evolve. Women’s football is not yet self-sustaining. “If you tell me that these things are happening in men’s soccer, I would say it clearly, they are guilty,” said Perea.
The SIC has another investigation open for a “cartelization” of the clubs to not hire players who have complained about their labor rights. The FCF and Dimayor offered guarantees to terminate the investigation early. Although they were initially accepted, they were later rejected, so the process continues and there could be a new fine, which in the case of the Federation would be high for being a repeat offender.
Path to negotiation
The Colombian Football Federation and Dimayor already had another dagger on them. In September 2019, the Colombian Association of Professional Soccer Players (Acolfutpro) presented a list of requests to negotiate labor conditions. The FCF and Dimayor have evaded him since then.
On September 4, the Ministry of Labor decided to begin an administrative procedure to sanction the two entities for their refusal to negotiate with the union. which led to another extraordinary meeting being called last Monday.
“The direct employer of the footballers is not the Colombian Football Federation or the Major Division of Colombian Football. Furthermore, these are not the ones who sign the contractual relationship, they are not the ones who pay the salaries, nor do they cancel social security. But they do have an impact on certain legal relationships, which may be the subject of collective bargaining with the Colombian Association of Professional Soccer Players (Acolfutpro), for this reason, it would have the obligation to start negotiations,” says the Mintrabajo resolution. The fine could range from 5 to 10 million pesos per day from the day the document was presented, if negotiation does not begin.
The governing body of Colombian football decided in its assembly to authorize “to the president of Dimayor to appoint his representatives, at the ILO level. “Such authorization was strictly regulated by the affiliated clubs.”
All these investigations led to talk in some media and on social networks of a possible intervention by Fifa, and that even the FCF itself would take the case. That would lead to an international suspension of Colombian football due to state intervention.
Jaramillo, in his capacity as vice president of the entity, denied it. “That we ourselves are going to call on Fifa to intervene, that doesn’t make much sense, really. “It is not an easy moment for Colombian professional football due to the open investigations, but we fully trust in our ability,” said Jaramillo, who announced that Ramón Jesurún, head of the FCF, will meet in the coming days with Gianni Infantino, president of the Fifa.
The actions of the managers are causing the Government to tighten the siege on Colombian football. We will have to see what consequences the research leaves for the development of this sport.
Jose Orlando Ascencio
Sports Deputy Editor
@josasc
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