Colombia waits. Against all evidence, he tries to maintain the illusion, hours after the FIFA ruling that has Ecuador’s box for the Qatar World Cup under discussion is known, due to a lawsuit filed by Chile for the alleged irregular alignment of Byron Castillo.
The novel in which the lawsuit has become has a vague option for national interests: that the decision was to eliminate the points that Ecuador added with the disputed player during the Qualifiers and simply ascend in the position table Peru and Colombia, fifth and sixth classified. It is clearly not the intention of Chile, which is demanding the points for itself, which would give them the quota for the playoffs and not the Colombians.
Certainly it is unlikely to happen, but if the stars were to align and FIFA put Colombia in the playoffs, a discussion would open up: if Reinaldo Rueda left the position of national coach for not having achieved a quota for the World Cup, in the event that a quota is opened for the playoffs, would they have to reinstate him to the position?
The subject has been the subject of much speculation. And it will continue to be so as long as the terms of the DT’s contract are not known, which will remain hidden for a long time. The only approach to this issue is the explanation of Ramón Jesurún, president of the Colombian Football Federation (FCF): “There is not a single peso of compensation. Mr. Reinaldo Rueda left in agreement with us and that was in the contract. His employment relationship was for what the World Cup meant, which ended when we did not pass the Qualifying phase,” he said on Caracol Radio last April.
Mutual agreement. That is the key: “in law, things are undone as they are done, that is, if the contract ended by mutual agreement, whether he returns to the World Cup or not, because it does not change the reality that the contract has already ended. It is different if the The Federation tells him: he finished his contract because he could not go to the World Cup, there the cause of the termination is extinguished and it would have to be looked at, “explained the lawyer Andrés Charria.
“Surely the initiative is taken by the coach, but there was no mistake, no force, or fraud at the end of the agreement. Very unfortunate that Colombia qualified, which I don’t think so, but the mutual agreement is imposed… The FCF could say it did not comply the objective and I fired him, but he did not do it. Here there was an agreement and when that happens there is nothing to do, “he added.
I believe that Reinaldo Rueda has already ended his bond. Whether or not he was paid compensation does not change anything, it is a decision of the parties, it is the will of both. His continuity no longer made much sense because he did not achieve the goal. I do not know the terms on the termination of the contract if he did not achieve the classification, legally they should have paid him the benefits and something corresponding to the liquidation, but what there was was an agreement,” said Carlos González Puche, executive director of Acolfutpro.
“If the playoff game appears, which I see as unlikely, he would not be reinstated because he made a settlement with the FCF, that happened more than a month ago. Could a contract that is dead be revived? I think not,” he explained.
A resounding no to reimbursement?
“It would be necessary to see the contract, if it says until the qualification to the World Cup … it would be necessary to see. If he said that the contract was to qualify for the World Cup and he could not qualify, I do not know if they could reinstate him – in case he was interested – but he could get to collect a very high compensation. It all depends on what has been signed, “said Charria.
In the remote case of a legal conflict with Rueda, the expert considers that the process would be so long that it would have to be worth it: “there could be a reinstatement action but that could take up to 8 years, just A judge can rule it, it depends on what the contract said and how exactly the FCF ended it,” he explained.
For González Puche, there is no further discussion: “I think that Reinaldo Rueda has already finished his relationship, he has reached an agreement. The duration of the contract was linked to the possibility of qualifying, the issue is whether or not he finished the job, because the contract had that resolutory condition, that compromised the process”, he commented.
For Charria, even in the event of a lawsuit, there would be a chance for the FCF to stop being obliged to any refund: “I, in defense of the FCF, would say: Mr. Rueda, Colombia is still in the race for the World Cup but not for you, no It’s your Colombia, you didn’t achieve that goal. But in reality I don’t think it will come to anything like that.”
