The president of the Dimayor, Fernando Jaramillochatted with the media about various current issues in Colombian soccer, including the absence of the Women’s League in the second half, the arbitration controversies and the resignation request made by an FPC director.
Regarding the men’s tournament, which is already moving on to the fifth date: “we have started a very intense second semester, with the clubs very well prepared, with high-level matches,” Jaramillo said. “We hope that it will continue to develop in the same way as we finished the first semester with those great soccer games and in November to have some very exciting finals like the one in the previous tournament.”
In relation to the controversy with the director of Patriotas, César Guzmán, who asked for his resignation after the scandal over the programming of the América-Cortuluá party on October Twelve, Jaramillo said that “everyone’s opinion is respected and the President has to be watching over all the clubs”, and sent an accurate message to the club presidents: “they are the ones who make the decisions about what they want and I think that I have to be part of the solution and not of the problems (… ) The day I’m part of the problem, I shouldn’t be here. I respect the 36 clubs a lot. The positions have always been healthy.”
Regarding the controversial arbitration, Jaramillo mentioned that “there are always complaints about the referees. From the technical point of view we have advanced a lot in Colombia, the VAR tool regardless of the fact that at times it is highly criticized, it is there to support the referee, so that he make the best decisions (…) We will continue to work on training VAR referees so that each time the tool becomes something uncriticized”, adding that there will always be discontent with the decisions.
Finally, he mentioned that Dimayor has “been working for many years on the subject of women’s professional football” and stressed that the process has been productive: “since I arrived I have supported women’s football. I wanted to give continuity to the League, but I understand the clubs regarding the financial issue. I never made an announcement without complying, I believed that we had the opportunity to carry out this championship, especially with the moment we are experiencing, for the clubs that did not agree, I understand them, it is not such an easy subject.
The manager said that the heptagonal proposal was Dimayor’s, however, it was not accepted by the clubs either. “You have to understand the process of women’s soccer in Colombia,” he said. Jaramillo said that he hopes that next year the League can be played with 20 clubs in both semesters.
