The Women’s League continues to grow little by little, but still has things to correct: analysis

The Women’s League completed its eighth edition on Friday, with Deportivo Cali securing its second title. The conditions are still far from ideal, but there is progress in terms of the length of the championship.

The one that has just ended is the longest League in history (see chart). It lasted 182 days, counted from February 16, when the first match was played (Millonarios 0, Medellín 0) until the final that Cali won against Santa Fe in El Campín. However, It should be noted that the championship was suspended for 35 days due to the preparation of the Colombian National Team that participated in the Paris 2024 Olympics. And right between the last date of the semifinal quadrangulars and the start of the final.

Dimayor provided a reassuring report. “It is an effort that is definitely worth it, because we create competitive conditions for around 400, 500 players, depending on the registered clubs. This gives them visibility at the Colombian National Team level,” the president of Dimayor, Fernando Jaramillo, told EL TIEMPO. “This gives them competition, even if it is just for a semester, so that our football can benefit from these players, and also at the level of other clubs in the world. And the conditions have been created for these players to be able to develop in an integral way,” he added.

However, the length of the championship is still far from ideal and many players are left without activity for the rest of the year. “The league started three months ago. For me, that is an attack on the players, because then they couldn’t work, they had to stop. “Some have been able to live off football, whatever they are given. The League should be for 10 months or a year. If they let a sponsor come in, we will surely do well,” said Margarita Martínez, one of the pioneers of women’s football in Colombia and former technical assistant for the National Team.

On the subject of contracts, a report that Dimayor sent to EL TIEMPO shows that 82 percent of the players who participated in the League meet the requirements to be considered professionals. However, there are still clubs that do not comply with the agreement. Players from Pasto, for example, reported delays in payments.

The Colombian Association of Professional Footballers (Acolfutpro) made a report on the 2023 League. This year’s report is in process. “While in the 2022 season seven teams out of the 17 participants signed contracts with their entire squad (41%), in 2023, 10 out of 17 (59%) clubs established employment contracts for all the footballers registered in the competition,” it reported.

Many teams work out of conviction, either directly, putting together their own project, or by collecting the work of third parties, as Atlético Nacional did with the most traditional club in women’s football, Formas Íntimas. Others, however, do it to meet the requirement to play in Conmebol tournaments, as Tolima did, which put its crest on the Real Santander shirt this year.

What has gone wrong in the Women’s League?

There are voices that consider that, since the first edition of the tournament in 2017, it was a mistake to have left out clubs that had been working on the issue. The reason? Not meeting the requirement of being Dimayor members.

“The process should have taken into account the amateur clubs, processes would not have been skipped, recognition would have been given to those of us who had worked in silence,” Ricardo Rozo, former coach of the Colombian women’s team, told EL TIEMPO.

It is worth highlighting the youth of
the teams that reached the final. Cali’s team has an average age of 21.2 years and is the second youngest champion of the tournament, after América in 2019 (20.8). And Santa Fe’s average is 21.7.

Local football is undergoing a renewal process and many of the stars are young. They are the ones called to take over from the senior team. 11 of the 18 players called up to the Olympics already play abroad. The local League has the role of forming the generational replacement.

“The senior team that comes after this one is the most experienced generation we have had, but now we have to look at the replacement and the new leaders, because some are already beginning to complete their cycle,” added Rozo. There are still some things to review. But the Women’s League is holding up.

JOSE ORLANDO ASCENCIO

Sports Deputy Editor

@josasc

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