Federación Bolivian Football Federation (FBF) postpones another round of the Clausura professional division tournament

The Bolivian Football Federation (FBF) has once again decided to postpone a round of the Clausura professional division tournament due to ongoing tensions in some cities awaiting the final election results.

Round 18, which was supposed to take place between Friday and Monday, was suspended by decision of the Technical Commission of the Professional Division, "due to potential conflicts that could arise in the country," according to a note sent by that body to the Bolivian federation's Executive Committee.

The commission had already decided on Tuesday to suspend the seventeenth round, which was scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, for the same reasons.

Protests were triggered by the sudden release by the electoral body of a preliminary provisional count, which was unofficial, that gave Bolivian President Evo Morales the victory in the first round, even though on Sunday it had been stopped when it was headed towards a second round with former President Carlos Mesa.

Several civic organizations have called for a civic strike starting on Wednesday in protest against what they consider an attempt at fraud by the court in favor of Evo Morales' re-election candidacy.

The strike is mostly taking place in the eastern region of Santa Cruz, which is home to six clubs out of the fourteen that make up the professional division.

Meanwhile, organizations affiliated with the president have also called for demonstrations to defend a hypothetical victory of the president in the first round.

The electoral law awards victory to a candidate with at least 50 percent of the votes, or with 40 percent and a ten-point lead over the second candidate, but if those percentages are not reached, the two candidates with the most votes will go to a second round, which in this case would be in December.

EFE