Santa Fe’s Heidy Mosquera and Atlético Nacional’s Nairelis Gutierrez fight for the ball during a league game June 14. Long Visual Press (Universal Images)
Colombian women’s football has been in the spotlight for months. By taking part in the 2023 World Cup, where the team was ranked among the eight best in the world, the players showed that they can fill stadiums, break attendance records and score last-minute goals. The statements of several of them – as well as their stories of effort and improvement – focus not only on their victories, but also on the problem of job insecurity. This Friday, the matter went beyond the media and entered a new playing field: the legal one. The Superintendency of Industry and Commerce (SIC) said it had opened an investigation into football directors over conduct that resulted in poor working conditions for players.
By Resolution 56062 of September 20, 2023, the SIC, the body responsible for protecting free competition in Colombia, formulated a declaration of objection against the Colombian Football Federation and the Major Division of Colombian Football – better known as Dimayor -, as well as against 29 football clubs, including those with the greatest reputation and tradition such as Millonarios, Independiente Santa Fe, Junior de Barranquilla, América de Cali, Deportivo Cali and Atlético Nacional. The SIC found that they had allegedly entered into an agreement that restricted free economic competition and violated the rights of some athletes under the age of 20.
What emerges from the resolution is that they would have created a system through which teams would equalize the working conditions of players instead of bidding among themselves. In doing so, they had “created a tendency to only recognize the minimum with regard to some aspects of work (…), such as salary and duration.” The competition that allows teams in men’s football to compete to recruit the best players with competitive offers, sometimes reaching astronomical salaries, would not be applicable to women.
All employers in the Colombian professional soccer league, i.e. the soccer teams, agreed to “a salary close to the minimum wage (approximately $295) and a contract with a term of between one and four months, which would only come about once a year. “. And they also introduced restrictions in order to generate additional income through the exploitation of their image rights,” said Francisco Melo, delegate for competition protection, at a press conference this Friday.
In fact, many of the players have to work other jobs to support themselves while they continue training. Catalina Usme, striker and all-time leading scorer for the Colombian national team, “worked as a waitress, did inventory, gave soccer lessons, everything she needed to make a living. He resigned when there were competitions or tournaments and went looking for work the next day after they were over. All these efforts to be able to continue playing,” his brother told EL PAÍS. At the end of the World Cup, she made her dissatisfaction with working conditions clear: “Colombia may be a power, but I want us to give these girls better conditions so they can come and win a World Cup.”
The Superintendence’s investigation is based on information collected after the seizure of cell phones and computers, as well as the collection of data from financial statements and balance sheets of various teams. He points out that “a salary scale would have been drawn up” according to which, depending on the category in which the player fits, “the salary caps that would be due to him as remuneration for his professional services would be established”.
Newsletter
Current events analysis and the best stories from Colombia, delivered to your inbox every week
GET THIS
The resolution not only targets sports institutions, but also accuses nine directors by name: Fernando Jaramillo Giraldo, president of Dimayor; Jorge Enrique Vélez García, former president of the same institution and former congressman; Carlos Alberto Barato Méndez, technical director and president of Fortaleza FC; Luis Eduardo Méndez Bustos, President of Santa Fe; Diego Fernando Perdomo Rojas, majority shareholder of the same club; Carlos Mario Zuluaga Pérez, Managing Director of La Equidad; and Óscar Ignacio Martán Rodríguez, football consultant and former president of Cortuluá. All are accused of “contributing to, facilitating, authorizing, carrying out and/or tolerating the alleged conduct, which constitutes violations of free competition.”
Transfer and lack of funding
The association and Dimayor have argued that the level of development of women’s football in Colombia and the fact that only one league is created each year is due to a lack of resources and funding. However, according to Melo, the SIC is investigating “whether he would have nevertheless refused to receive the public funds that the government offered to promote women’s football in our country.” The reason for this lies in the evidence we have collected so far Refusal to receive the funds, presumably because the institutions examined would consider it inappropriate to be subject to the supervision and audit of the Colombian control bodies.
Finally, there is the question of broadcasting the games of the Dimayor tournament. Under existing agreements with television broadcasters, at least ten men’s competitions and one women’s competition must be broadcast, but there is a clause that allows the women’s game to be replaced by a men’s game. According to the Superintendence, “This means that the contract only allows the broadcast of matches of men’s competitions, which may be problematic for the development of sport in Colombia, since the broadcast of these events is a fundamental element to attract the public’s attention.” “.
The Superintendency’s complaint comes at a time when the conditions of female football players have become increasingly important around the world. In Spain, Luis Rubiales was forced to resign as president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation after he kissed player Jennifer Hermoso without her consent while celebrating Spain’s World Cup victory. The episode had global proportions and even became a topic of discussion in the European Parliament.
Luis Eduardo Méndez, one of the people identified by the superintendence, explained on the radio station La W that there was no such agreement. “Today in Santa Fe salaries range from three to twelve million. This is a company that must plan and act according to the budgets managed. I haven’t had any problems with any player,” he said, warning that given the Capital team’s delicate financial situation, a fine for the team could lead to its liquidation.
This investigation could change the football agenda for both the women’s and men’s worlds in the coming months. It creates particular uncertainty since the country will not only host the U-20 Women’s World Cup in 2024, but in a few weeks, between October 5 and 21, will also host the Women’s Copa Libertadores, which will take place in Bogotá , Cali and Palmyra will take place.
Subscribe to the EL PAÍS newsletter about Colombia here and receive all the important information on current events in the country.