Beloved by some, criticized by others, César Salinas, president of the Bolivian Football Federation, had at least one accolade to show: he became rich through soccer, he didn't need it. His life came to an end at just 58 years old: he succumbed to the coronavirus. He surprised everyone; more than that, he had an impact. Bolivia must now find a leader worthy of that position, and it is not easy, there is no leadership class in the world. The best that can be said about Salinas is that he was a humble man and that he made his fortune through his company. This is the unanimous view in La Paz. He had the dream of returning La Verde to a World Cup and building a training center for the national team. His death not only saddens, but also complicates Bolivian soccer, which will call for elections as soon as possible, and who knows if the national team coach, César Farías, will continue. The Venezuelan was Salinas' favorite, who had him at The Strongest, but not a large part of the leadership.
In Argentina, Claudio Tapia, reelected in the fastest and most unnoticed assembly in history amidst the coronavirus, was accused by political journalist Jorge Lanata of making 23 trips to Europe on private flights paid for by the AFA, with beautiful models on board, and with a stopover in Cape Verde, a natural and tax paradise. Tapia did not deny it, he remained silent. They later added that while the AFA paid those bills, estimated by Lanata's investigators at $1,200,000, the government finances part of the employees' salary during the pandemic. Argentinian soccer, a black sheep at the conduct level, does not stand out for its order and cleanliness of procedures. And it comes from a nearby catastrophe, with FIFA intervention included. Tapia, say the reporters who frequent the AFA, is a pawn in the power struggle between Boca and River.
- In the United States, they reveal how the payments to Luis Chiriboga's son and other CONMEBOL executives were made in the FIFAgate case
Chile will seek its fourth association president next Thursday, the 30th, after the fall of Sergio Jadue, the most incredible character this reporter has ever known in this profession. Jadue, banned for life by FIFA and under FBI custody in Miami, was replaced by Jaime Baeza, Arturo Salah, and Sebastián Moreno. The latter resigned in May and, for the moment, the ANFP is leaderless. "Between the two contenders for the position, one is 'of the representatives'," says Danilo Díaz, a formidable Chilean journalist. "How do you mean 'of the representatives'?", we ask. "Of the player representatives. Several of them own clubs and want to take over the association," he answers. Lorenzo Antillo, from Audax Italiano, would be the candidate from that perspective. Let's imagine a future of soccer led by contractors.
The Superintendence of Industry and Commerce of Colombia announced on Monday, July 6, a fine of nearly $5 million to the Colombian Football Federation for ticket scalping during the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. And it sanctioned 17 individuals, the company TicketYa, and Comercializadora de Franquicias SA for devising and executing "a system that limited free competition to favor Ticketshop in the allocation of the ticketing contract for the qualifiers," explained Superintendent Andrés Barreto. In short, a system was set up in which people could not access the tickets online, the access was always blocked, the classic "the system crashed" or "try again later," to divert the public to scalping, which charged up to 350% more for the tickets. If we think that there were 9 home matches in a stadium that holds about 45,000 people, we will agree that there is a fortune at stake, even if not all the tickets were resold. Among those sanctioned is the entire leadership of the Federation. At the championship level, soccer is mired because the vast majority of clubs want to remove the extremely controversial president of Dimayor, who demands a juicy indemnity to step down.
- Juan Ángel Napout tests positive for coronavirus in US prison, after refusal of compassionate release
News from Caracas (a sort of Moscow from the 60s without an iron curtain; there is no iron) informs that the president of the Venezuelan Federation, Mr. Jesús Berardinelli, has just been arrested by the regime "for embezzlement". Berardinelli has a drawer full of complaints about mishandling of money, and one thing is certain: he will not return. At the moment, there is no president, like in Chile. The fate of Portuguese national team coach José Peseiro is unknown. It is regrettable this conductive instability when the Vinotinto has such good players to aspire to shine in the qualifiers.
A deep and thorough investigation by the Lima-based portal Once, published on Sunday the 19th, exposes that the president of the Peruvian Federation, Agustín Lozano, while still vice president, was the brain and leader of ticket scalping during the qualifiers for Russia, which was duly proven. He set up a system and directed it from the same offices of the FPF. This modus operandi generated income of $1,500,000. Reported with irrefutable evidence to CONMEBOL, the organization, violating all its own regulations, fined him $5,000 and obliged him to give talks to "raise awareness" about the bad practice of scalping. Not even in a comedy program would we find something like this. They admit that it is serious behavior, although they do not revoke his certificate of suitability and still recognize him. Once has Lozano cornered with testimonies and promises to continue until the end.
While some were left without an association president, Ecuador has two, although one is not even on the precipice, he has already fallen. It turns out that he came from the 40th floor and is now on the 20th.
A worrying present when wisdom is needed to manage the situation imposed by the pandemic, with the qualifiers approaching, the tight club tournaments without spectators, and a new Copa América in just over ten months. This is the South American soccer that we have. (O)