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Hours passed and what seemed like a catastrophic scenario for Cúcuta Deportivo, after the announcement by the Ministry of the suspension of sports recognition, was not so.
The club, which now plays in Armenia because in the city that gives it its name accumulates millionaire debts and cannot use the General Santander stadium, it will lift the punishment in a more or less simple way: it will pay close to 200 million pesos and will have again their recognition, thus, as who pays for the reconnection of a public service.
Common sense says that in the face of a reality verified by the sports control body itself, which is the Ministry, of successive non-compliance with social security payments and workers’ rights, it seems a light penalty to pay a fine for an amount that , strictly speaking, it is almost a small cash register in almost all the teams in the local tournament.
And the fact is that the rules are clear and those that cover Cúcuta Deportivo, no matter how controversial its president, José Augusto Cadena, may be, do not allow discussion in light of the law: “When Acolfutpro presented the evidence of non-payment of severance payments and In 2018 and the first semester of 2019, it was established that the amount reaches 168 million pesos, which is what the Ministry of Sports establishes as the amount of pending obligations. When paying, the suspension is allowed to be revoked “, explained Carlos González Puche, by Acolfutpro.
But why are the fines so low and why do the judgments take so long to be known? “What the Ministry does is bimonthly reviews and when non-payments are seen, it opens the investigations. The sanctions of Law 1445 are those that contemplate the suspension of sports recognition, but they demand the payment of what is owed and also have a limit in the fines of up to 100 legal minimum wages in force. For the Ministry to sanction, the procedure to allege, replace and appeal must be exhausted, and that takes months. That is why this, which is from 2018 to 2019, is known until now ” , said lawyer Andrés Charria.
The next question is unavoidable: why if Cadena has had similar problems in Bucaramanga, in Patriotas and in Cúcuta itself, with which he went downhill in 2015, and it seems that it is a repeated offense, there is no sanction more radical? As much as there are cases from the past, the case that was documented, investigated and proven was this, and the caps are what they are. If there is antecedents, in each case, the whole process must be done and then there would be talk of recidivism.
“The Law establishes that recidivism leads to the definitive loss of recognition, a figure that was created since 1985 and shows that the State does have the power to monitor and control. The question is why until now this Minister dares to sanction and why other directors of Coldeportes never did it if they had the elements to sanction “, wonders Gónzález Puche.
FUTBOLRED tried to find out Cadena’s opinion on these matters but did not respond to calls. Then, he returned to the lawyers: “The suspension is like ‘Strike 1’ in baseball, but if it happens again, the rule is not clear in saying what is repeated, if it is once or two or three, that is the authority of the Ministry, “he said.
In his opinion, “these sanctions are exemplary”, and abide by the legal tools that are available: “the Ministry can only admonish, withdraw sports awards but it cannot say ‘this man is prohibited from putting his hand in a club ‘Not that. The formula is to fine him indefinitely. “
Does the Law fall short to punish?
The issue has two scenarios: that of the Ministry of Sports and that of the soccer authorities, read Dimayor and the Colombian Soccer Federation (FCF).
In the first case, isn’t the Ministry missing ‘teeth’ to tackle these cases in a more radical way? “In other countries with serious leagues, control mechanisms are established to sanction non-compliant clubs. If they review the licensing regulations, no one who breaches obligations can work. It happens in Peru, Uruguay and Argentina. Those who do not pay do not compete or register players, in Europe even downgrades them. There is still a long way to go here. But because the Federation and Dimayor do not have those control mechanisms to prevent a team from affecting football, because the non-compliance of a club affects them all, “said González Puche .
And here it touches directly on the issue of Dimayor, who as soon as he learned of the Ministry’s decision rushed to assure that the suspension has not been legally notified and that Cúcuta provided him with evidence of being up to date with his obligations. According to Charria, they are wrong: “according to Dimayor’s regulations, a club without sports recognition cannot compete in its tournaments and that is a requirement that only Mindeportes delivers. Dimayor is obliged to comply with the administrative order and until Cúcuta report to the Ministry, not to Dimayor, who has already paid, because the punishment is not lifted. What the Ministry says is that they were notified, but Dimayor says they were not, we don’t know why. They are confused. “
And in that legal detail, that fine print, that cat and mouse game is the discussion: Cúcuta continues to play in the Cup and League because in theory it was not notified, although the Ministry believes it is. He has the backing of Dimayor, as is to be expected: he is one of the partners and to attack him publicly would be ‘friendly fire’.
What would be a last resort for those affected?
In the resolution that was known last Friday, and that has no appeal because it is the last response of the Ministry to the appeal that the Cadena team itself filed more than two months ago, there is nothing left for the club. Pay and save or you can’t compete.
As Charria explained, in Colombia it remains “to sue the administrative act before the administrative contention and that takes two or even three years.” It seems more sensible to pay.
But let’s assume they pay and then in a couple of months the breaches of contracts are repeated. What can players who previously went to the media do to account for their growing debts due to non-payment, legal fees and family needs?
For them there is one last instance: FIFA. The governing body of world football has a dispute chamber before which complaints can be lodged to force compliance with contracts. In that case, there may be an exemplary punishment for the offender and both Dimayor and the FCF would have no choice but to abide by the decision.
But an expert like Cadena is unlikely to be exposed to that much. You know how to play with deadlines and fine print, and you won’t make beginner mistakes. You will pay and rerun your timer from zero. And what has happened in recent days will no longer be exemplary, as expected, but will give ideas to those who are thinking of breaking contracts, especially now that the pandemic gives them an excuse.
It is already usual that in Colombia so much happens that nothing happens … soccer is no exception.
