Complicit silence in our football

In Ecuadorian football, we are constantly witnessing serious incidents, compromising complaints, accusations without evidence and others that at least deserve investigation by judicial bodies, because they have changed the order of the abstract concepts represented by codes, regulations and transparency. Nowadays, active subjects in football, such as players, managers, technical directors, declare or remain silent without caring about the repercussions.

Today we live in an era of indifference, in a strategy that if the problem is worrying, it is best to remain silent. Unfortunately, we have to look again at the unfortunate actions of the referees in the fifth term of the second phase of the Pro League. The referees flagrantly damaged Delfín, Emelec and Barcelona SC with their missed decisions.

Darkness in Barcelona SC and flash in Emelec

In each of those matches, both the referees and the VAR provided explicit instruction on how to cause damage with or without intent. It’s delicate to explain, but there are signs that make us assume the worst. The decisions were to the detriment of the three mentioned clubs, obviously and the patience of all their followers.

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Judge Roberto Sánchez, by confirming the VAR, harmed the team by excluding key players, such as Argentinean Cristian García (54 min) and forward Facundo Castelli (81 min due to a double yellow card). These were actions that did not deserve such drastic sanctions, nevertheless he managed to score and take care of his result (1-0) against Independiente del Valle, at the Jocay de Manta stadium.

The match played at the Capwell Stadium between Emelec and Aucas, the protagonists were Franklin Congo and again in charge of VAR, who decided not to award a penalty to Luis Fernando León, who did not allow any discussion in favor of the electric team. , and to complicate matters, at the end of the match another controversial decision was the disallowance of Édgar Lastre’s goal because León was deemed to have committed a foul on defender Wilker Ángel; In view of this, the leadership of Emelecista condemned the shameful confiscation of the property of which they were the victims, at a crucial moment of the championship due to its football crisis.

And it didn’t end there, because in the 2-2 draw against Cumbaya, Barcelona was visibly hurt by Álex Cajas, who showed that the referee’s rules can be measured according to interpretation. For example, when he kicked Francisco Fydriszewski, the toreador forward, Cajas showed him a red card without any analysis, and the worst of all is that he ratified the sanction by looking at the VAR images. Not considering that it was a natural reaction without alleged aggression. In the same game, Juan Carlos Paredes, from Cumbaya, was not penalized with the same energy as Fydriszewski’s, nor was he even cautioned by VAR.

Carlos Alfaro Moreno, president of Barcelona, ​​emphasized: 1) Judge Cajas did not judge the actions committed by the rival in the same way; 2) That it seems strange to him that he did not rely on VAR on several occasions; 3) That the implementation of VAR is not a solution if the referee listens to it to his heart’s content or ignores it; 4) And that they don’t even have the right to listen to audio recordings, so this refusal threatens transparency.

Regarding this last point, Miguel Ángel Loor, president of the Pro League, said some time ago that this creates morbidness, because who really cares about audios? Clubs and why journalists? So the judge gives everything.

I do not agree with that statement, because we must seek transparency and make the audio recordings public, as is done in many world championships. It’s not only journalism that asks for it, but also the fan who needs to know the level of judging.

The actions of the three appointed referees created an atmosphere of injustice, because they were unable to give guarantees that the matches were held in accordance with the rules governing football.

Some fans thought it was too much of a coincidence, as Delfín, Barcelona and Emelec played key things according to their needs, aspirations and urgency. When these crises caused by Ecuadorian arbitration happen, we always ask the FEF Arbitration Commission to rule on it, but the discourtesy and indiscretion are repeated.

We assume that they do not come forward out of caution, communication strategy, complicity or fear. We cannot forget when Carlos Manzur, vice president of Ecuafútbol, ​​publicly announced that “corruption exists in arbitration and that the only way to fight against it is to eliminate the corrupt person”, and also resigned from the position of arbitration president. commission. The key question is: What happened to the complaint? Nothing.

Carlos Manzur spoke to Ecuadorian football directors about alleged ‘corruption’ at referee level

Carlos Manzur resigned from the FEF Arbitration Commission and said there was ‘corruption’

Esteban Paz, leader of the League of Quito, also made accusations and offered evidence. He described referee Marlon Ver as “despicable” for being part of the alleged match-fixing against 9 de Octubre, and that this would be duly proven, which was never done and for a change was not investigated.

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And the crux of the problem was confirmed by Luis Muentes, president of the referees’ union, who said a few months ago: “Our football is stuck in the sewer and we will clean it.” What has been done to clean it up? Nothing, just words in the wind.

“Judges are threatened and conditioned”, is the alarming complaint of Luis Muentes, president of the arbitration union

Surprisingly, Muentes reappeared a few days ago and addressed sensitive questions about the case on Carlos Vera’s program From day to night, revealing that his colleagues were threatened by unknown sectors and therefore under pressure, and he detailed: “There are judges who are threatened by external people who present themselves as such, because I don’t think they are external. They do not identify themselves, they are anonymous threats, messages and videos. What Muentes explains is that these are internal intimidations and that it is time for journalists not to blame everything on the judges, not everyone is telling what is going on.

Luis Muentes, president of the Association of Judges, assures that he will present information to verify that judges are under pressure; “We feel scared,” he reveals

Considering such serious claims by Muentes, we ask again: What is the reaction of the Arbitration Commission? No. Failure to address these adverse events shows a lack of insight into the seriousness of the problem. If you don’t want to or can’t, gentlemen from the Commission, resign for the good of our football.

As a consequence, the sanctions for banned players hurt the clubs. Full of reason, they should appeal against disciplinary sanctions, but these appeal procedures in appeal bodies do not end with solving the underlying problem.

In the face of this crisis, there are many questions and few answers. Unfortunately, it seems that in our football, contrary to common sense, the absurdity that is its eternal contradiction is gaining ground more and more. (OR)

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