Among the characters who have economically 'beaten' Barcelona Sporting Club, the first place is occupied, in chronological order, by Uruguayan coach Julio Kellman, who on January 29, 1961, 60 years ago, vanished from Ecuador with money that belonged to the canary club.
For eternity, the Uruguayan united his name with Barcelona due to two relevant situations: in 1960 he became the coach who led the bullfighters to the obtaining of their first national championship. But at the same time, he is the pioneer among those who, hired by the yellows, became a detriment to the institution's finances, a situation that is common in contemporary Barcelona history.
Kellman did not cause an earthquake in Barcelona's economy like the one Rolando Zárate originated, who, between the value of his transfer ($ 900,000) and the lawsuit he won ($ 1.6 million), caused the canaries to lose $ 2.5 million. The Argentine arrived in 2008 when Eduardo Maruri was president of the institution and Antonio Noboa was the Football Commission. When the worst signing in torero history came, his recent past included a collection of serious injuries whose consequences once left the forward with the rigidity of a mummy after being knocked down in a match in Portoviejo.
In April 1966, news about Kellman's whereabouts was heard again in Ecuador.
Kellman is also not at the same level as Argentine Ariel Nahuelpán, who while still a Barcelona player, sued the club in 2018 before the Ecuadorian Football Federation. Until November 9th, after the Arbitration Tribunal for Sport (CAS) dismissed Barcelona's appeal, the club had to pay $ 1,238,296, including two years and five months of interest, as resolved by FIFA on October 30th, 2019. The deadline to pay Nahuelpán expired last January 28th. According to Carlos Alfaro Moreno, president of the Canary Islands, "there are no more deadlines. Everything must be paid. Almost $ 1.6 million". What the coach did was to make fun of the torero leaders six decades ago.
Crowned Ecuadorian monarch on November 27, 1960, Barcelona, led by Kellman, participated in January 1961 in an international quadrangular played at the Modelo stadium. In their two initial presentations, they defeated Peñarol and Independiente de Avellaneda 1-0, and on January 18th, on the final date, they won the trophy by drawing 2-2 with Emelec. Up to that point, it was the joyful and successful stage of the Uruguayan coach.
The plot
Kellman suggested that in order to strengthen Barcelona, facing the debut of a national team in the Copa Libertadores in 1961, it was urgent to acquire reinforcements and play several friendlies outside of Ecuador. However, he himself had to personally carry out both procedures with the money he requested and that the directive agreed to give him. On January 29, 1961, this newspaper reported that the yellows would play in Cuenca "with the absence of the Uruguayan coach, who traveled to Quito to sign (Leonardo) Palacios and Arce, without success in his mission, and then went to Colombia", to arrange games in Colombian lands.
On February 9th, Conmebol confirmed that Barcelona would face Santa Fe de Bogotá in the Copa in April, in home and away matches. The intention to prepare "methodically and with the maximum efficiency" for the Libertadores was going the wrong way, said Diario EL UNIVERSO, because there were no news of Kellman. He had to justify his prolonged silence with data regarding matches arranged (by him) in other countries. After "22 days of silence", on February 15, 1961, "Kellman sent (to the directive) a laconic cable from Bogotá". The coach claimed to have "taken the first steps for a tour of contracts for Barcelona matches in the north, and to continue on to Central America", reported this newspaper.
Julio Kellman (left), Barcelona coach until the beginning of 1961, when nothing else was known about his whereabouts outside of Ecuador.
The alarms rang loudly when it was revealed that the Uruguayan "took with him in his suitcases something like 30,000 sucres - including $ 5,000 contributed by the players, with the sweat of their brow -". And it was added that Kellman, "with a lot of experience in good living", earned "a fairly acceptable salary of 3,000 sucres per month, plus bonuses based on the team's performance". The suspicion of fraud was confirmed when the DT "disappeared so mysteriously from our country", as published in EL UNIVERSO. The projected dollar earnings for Barcelona were destined to go up in smoke.
José Bruno Cavanna, torero president, declared that Kellman "would have harmed the team that treated him so well during his stay in Guayaquil". The leader warned that he would demand the intervention of FIFA. Via cable, the Uruguayan showed signs of life on February 19th, 1961. He reported that in Central America (the tour was) impossible. And that there was interest in Colombia, but in exchange for only paying Barcelona $ 700. "Urgently confirm with droguería Real, Sevilla (department of Valle, Colombia)", Kellman requested in his statement. Bruno urged him to return to the country "urgently", but the Uruguayan never responded again.
On April 19, 1966, news of the former canary coach's reappeared when he was hired by Libertad de Asunción. 'Kelman reappears, who coached Barce', titled EL UNIVERSO, which reported: "Where has he been all these years? Few will know, perhaps as few as those who knew anything about him before coming to Barcelona. Kellman, "a controversial figure who, however, was successful," is "remembered more than anything for his famous trip to Colombia from which he never returned".