The Women's League starts: fewer teams, new format and many hopes

A new edition of the women's league, with new expectations, with a home run format and with 15 teams, two less than last year. Although the soccer players continue to claim to have competition all year round, they are motivated to be in action again. The ball is rolling this Friday with Millonarios vs. Medellín (3:30 pm Win + TV).

This time the Women's League has a modification in its format, a round-robin phase will be played and then a semi-final home run phase, which is expected to increase the enthusiasm of the teams and the fans. The League will go until August 18.

The teams that will play the Women's League are: the champion Santa Fe, the runner-up América, Millonarios, La Equidad, Cali, Internacional de Palmira, Atlético Nacional, Medellín, Junior, Deportivo Pasto, Real Santander, Llaneros, Cúcuta, Pereira and Alianza. Two less teams than last year, including Atlético Huila, which is one of those that has been champion.

Lights and shadows

Fernando Jaramillo, president of Dimayor, highlighted the start of the 2024 Women's League: “There are 15 clubs participating, in a large economic effort, in a competition that is not self-sustainable, with an extension of 7 months; We are progressing, the first was 3 months, the idea is to be able to have two leagues in the year in one year. “We are going to have home runs that we haven't had before, that will be exciting.”

Jaramillo confirmed that beyond the economic effort to develop the championship, Dimayor hopes that the resources agreed with the National Government will be allocated, through the Ministry of Sports. This is 8,000 million pesos, of which 5 billion will be allocated to the professional women's league and the rest to the amateur league.

The soccer players have been demanding that the championship be more stable, that there be more support and that there be competition in both semesters. While these requests are being made, there is an atmosphere of optimism about having a great championship.

“From the league I hope that we can, first of all, enjoy all the Colombian talent that we have, I hope in terms of organization that we can have good hotels, that the trips are comfortable and at good times, that the food in the hotels is for athletes and that the fixture is there so that the teams have their rest times in the best way,” he said. Jacky FonsecaLa Equidad player.

“Of the championship, a competitive tournament where all the teams are going to be willing to give everything on the field, the duration of the tournament is not what we want, it is a year, but at least we have competition until August and that favors us all. In the same way, the tournament will have home runs and the teams will have more opportunities to fight for the final and that quota for liberators,” added the player.

For its part, the Football Players Association (Acolfutpro) It highlights that there are clubs that are complying, but there are others that are not. “There are others who definitely do not carry out their obligations in relation to having a female professional team and another in training,” he says. Carlos González Puche, executive director.

Puche adds: “The tournament runs until August 18 but for those who play in the final, but what happens to those eliminated? “In truth, they are going to have 3 and a half months of competition.”

Acolfutpro has several questions, such as knowing how the players' contracts will be handled this year. In 2023 the regulations indicated that a minimum of 15 registered professional players with an employment contract should be registered. Jaramillo said this year will be the same. However, Puche has reservations about the duration of the contracts: “I am afraid that those who do not advance to home runs will end their contract on June 8 (end of the round-robin phase) and therefore there will be no improvement in relation to what that has been operating… and almost half of the participants will not continue competing, that is, almost 4 months: with 4 months a woman cannot say that she is a professional, there are no conditions.

PABLO ROMERO
Editor of EL TIEMPO
@PabloRomeroET

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