A third legal complication could arise for Francisco Egas
When he had eleven months as president of the Ecuadorian Soccer Federation (FEF), on December 5, 2019, Egas signed a document in which Universidad Católica, the sports institution of which the capital was a director, authorized Matthew Neidl Eguiguren, a player agent, and the Valencia Media Group to "officially participate in negotiations, on our behalf, and on behalf of our player José Adonis Cifuentes Charcopa with the MLS club Minnesota United." This newspaper had access to that documentation - and others - in which Egas' signature appears as a teammate official at the same time he held the highest position in the FEF.
In the statutes of the Ecuadorian Soccer Federation, there is a rule that expressly states that once a vocal of the board of directors of the FEF is assumed (in this case Egas, as president), the position or representation he held previously (as a teammate leader) is automatically terminated. The last paragraph of article 38 says: "When the vocal of the Board, principal and alternate, take office, they are automatically disassociated from any affiliate to the Federation and therefore the legal representation they may have had will cease, if applicable".
Despite this regulatory impediment, Egas, as the head of the FEF, a position for which he was elected on January 31, 2019, as a member of Católica, negotiated and imposed conditions for the transfer of Cifuentes, a player whose sports, federative, and economic rights belonged to the universitarios. The forward was one of several brilliant figures of the national team that won the bronze medal in the World Youth Championship in Poland the previous year.
In a letter with the official letterhead of the team, signed by Egas, it says: "Authorization of the Club Deportivo Universidad Católica de Quito for Mr. Mathew Michael Neidl Eguiguren and SVP Business Development-Valencia Media Group. To whom it may concern: Through this document, we, Club Deportivo Universidad Católica de Quito, authorize Mr. Mathew Michael Neidl Eguiguren, a football agent from the United States, and Valencia Media Group - hereinafter referred to as the agents - to present and participate in negotiations on our behalf and that of our player, José Adonis Cifuentes Charcopa, with the MLS club Minnesota United only, and to present to us transfer offers for the player to clubs in these areas. This authorization is exclusive to the mentioned agents and valid until December 20, 2019. If the agents present our club with a letter of intent or an official offer, this authorization can and will be automatically extended for 30 days after notification so that negotiations can be concluded. Quito, 05.12.2019". And below, Egas's signature as a member of Católica.
- Egas rules out that checks delivered to clubs 'represent an illegitimate or dark matter'
This could be a new controversial issue in which Egas is involved, removed from the presidency of the FEF by six of the nine members of the board - on April 24 - a measure that was ratified on May 1 by clubs and provincial associations in an Extraordinary Congress (46 votes in favor and two abstentions). The capital city has an open disciplinary record at FIFA for resorting to the ordinary courts to try to prevent the holding of the Congress (a Pichincha court granted an injunction). And recently, after it became public that he delivered four checks of $24,000 each to national clubs 22 days before winning the FEF presidential election; his opponent in that contest, Selim Doumet, asked for FIFA and Conmebol's intervention to determine if Egas broke any ethical rules by giving money to Puerto Quito, Santa Rita, Orense, and Liga de Loja (all the checks signed by Egas were issued on the same day: January 9, 2019). The Quito native stated that there was no vote-buying but rather "creditor payment" and that nothing "dark or illegitimate" will be found in his actions.
Regarding Cifuentes, the transfer of the Esmeraldas-born player, born on March 12, 1999, was finally made to another MLS team: Los Angeles Football Club for $3 million, of which the champion with Ecuador in the South American Youth Championship Chile 2019 received 15% (amount established in letter B of article 13 of the Professional Soccer Player Law of Ecuador); that is, $450,000. However, according to the third point of the Transactional Agreement - signed by the player and by Miguel Almeida Suárez, as team president, on February 3, 2020 - Cifuentes only received $200,000 because "the player, freely and voluntarily, for the good of the club's interests, will donate the amount of $250,000 to the club (Universidad Católica) to invest in development programs focused on training".
(D)