New Minister of Sports, Luz Cristina López, with her eye on football

The new minister of Sports, Luz Cristina López, He assured yesterday that one of his specific programs will be to make decisions to eradicate violence in sports venues, a problem that has done so much damage, mainly, to Colombian soccer.

Lopez He pointed out that they are already working hand in hand with the entities in charge to take serious measures to ensure that the excesses do not occur again.

The minister indicated that her portfolio will have a technical table this Friday in which the groups that work to safeguard peace in stadiums and stages will seek a definitive solution to this problem.

“A technical table has been convened in which The Police, Dimayor, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Sports will be there to discuss whether it is necessary for the police to be in sports venues“, said.

In recent days, riots and fights have occurred in several stadiums across the country. In La Independencia de Tunja, the confrontation between fans forced the termination due to lack of match guarantees Patriots vs. Pereira, that the visitor won 0-2.

And on Monday, the protagonists of the fight were fans of the Royal Cartagena, who faced each other in the upper eastern stand of the stadium Sierra Nevada, of Santa Marta, in a promotion tournament match against Magdalena Union.

“What we want to know and study is whether the number of personnel in these matches can be reduced and that the professional clubs assume a greater proportion of the organization and logistics,” he said. Luz Cristina López.

The minister insisted that her portfolio is coordinating with all entities that make up the football security commission to prevent these problems from continuing to arise.

“This April 4, the national commission will meet and the regulations will be approved there. Our position is that we do not want violent people being part of the shows. They should stay outside, sport is not for this type of demonstrations,” the minister said.

women's soccer

López reiterated that it has been President Gustavo Petro's policy and, therefore, the work in his favor to improve women's soccer will be unconditional.

“The support is given because the President has given us the line. We already have routes with the Dimayor and the Federation to improve the quality of work and the guarantees of the players in the country,” López said.

In August 2023, President Petro announced that 8,000 million pesos will be allocated to support women's soccer, which the new minister confirmed. “The $8 billion for support is already there. We have not sat down with the Federation, but the resource is appropriate,” she said.

For its part, David Acosta in charge of the positioning direction of the Ministry of Sports, pointed out that this money has already been divided for the realization of the Women's League.

“There is a contract signed for $4.7 billion to carry out the League. In total there are $8,000 million. Today, those $4,700 are invested in the tournament and we are working together with Dimayor and the Federation to promote other ideas to strengthen women's soccer programs with the rest of the money,” she said.

And he added: “For example, you can invest that money again in the League, but we are working on that, for women's football,” he said.

Priority, Olympics

The Paris Olympic Games They will be inaugurated on July 26 in the French capital. Colombia has, so far, 39 athletes classified, but what is pressing is that the money for the sports federations has not been delivered and the athletes need to compete to find their place.

“In the first semester, athletes seeking to qualify for the Olympics are a priority,” said the ministry. And he added: “Part of the contingencies is the prioritization of the federations so that athletes and para-athletes have guarantees to seek their classification.”

Finally, López insisted that not only will sports be prioritized to win medals, but they will also be taken into account to have good preparation.

“I am sure that this number of qualifiers will grow and that the results of multi-sport events are a consequence of the preparation of the athletes,” she stated.

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