Only fourteen new foreign reinforcements have been hired by Ecuadorian teams for 2021 due to the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has wreaked havoc on professional football.
Most club directors say that the limitations are due to the financial blow and the consequent prohibition of the presence of fans in the stadiums to prevent further contagion.
One of the basic pillars in the economy of clubs is the revenue generated by ticket sales when their teams play at home.
Esteban Paz, representative of Liga de Quito, recently stated that the club stopped receiving about six million dollars in ticket sales in 2020 due to the prohibition of spectators in local and Libertadores matches to prevent the spread of the virus.
The champion of the recent season, Barcelona, is another team that has suffered "about eight million losses in terms of ticket sales, members, and sponsorships," according to its president, Carlos Alfaro Moreno.
Regarding the budget for the current season, Barcelona's directors have not provided specific numbers, but they assured that "it will be the same as last year."
Almost all clubs have reduced their projections for the current season, with salary reductions of up to 35%, although they prefer to handle the issue internally with their teams.
Few foreign reinforcements
Despite the circumstances, reinforcements will arrive at Aucas, which hired Uruguayan central defender Angelo Pizzorno from Cienciano in Peru, and Independiente del Valle, with Paraguayan forward Brian Montenegro, after failing to retain their Panamanian goalscorer Gabriel Torres as "his continuity was beyond the current budget," according to a club source.
Deportivo Cuenca signed Argentine midfielder Federico Jourdan from Sol de América in Paraguay.
Mushuc Runa signed Colombian midfielder Cristian Palomeque from Alianza Petrolera in Colombia.
Técnico Universitario signed Colombian midfielder Nicolás Palacios from Cúcuta and striker Carlos Ibargüen from Cortuluá.
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Orense incorporated Argentine defender Arián Pucheta from San Martín, and midfielder Nicolás Czornomaz from Defensores de Belgrano.
Macará secured the services of Argentine goalkeeper Joaquín Pucheta from All Boys, Argentine defender Matías Cortave from Deportivo Morón, and Paraguayan midfielder Blas Díaz from Sportivo Luqueño.
Nueve de Octubre hired Uruguayan defender Richard Fernández from River Plate in Paraguay, Uruguayan midfielder Facundo Guichón from Alki Oroklini in Cyprus, and Uruguayan forward Maximiliano Viera from Cerrito in Uruguay.
Some confirmed and others close to signing
Meanwhile, the other teams preferred to confirm the foreign reinforcements they had in 2020 or to sign other players who have already played in the local football.
Barcelona practically confirmed the entire squad that won the title and signed players who have excelled with other local clubs.
The two new Barcelona reinforcements are American-Argentine forward Michael Hoyos, who arrived at Deportivo Cuenca in 2017 and played for Guayaquil City since 2018, and Argentine midfielder Sergio López, who played for Delfín de Manta in 2019 and Aucas de Quito last year. "Both would play as Ecuadorians after obtaining their naturalization,"
Liga de Quito has also confirmed its entire squad while the only player in doubt to continue with the team is Uruguayan forward Rodrigo Aguirre, who, if transferred to another team, would leave room for Paraguayan goalscorer Luis Amarilla, who was the top scorer with Universidad Católica in 2019. (D)