The statements of Eduardo Dávila, maximum shareholder of the Magdalena Union, have generated a strong controversy in Colombian football. In a recent interview with the heavy sport, Dávila said that, while he is in command of the club, there will be no female team. The businessman justified his position claiming that football “is not a sport for women”, a comment that has been considered discriminatory and has revived the debate on support for women’s football in Colombia
In the interview, Dávila reiterated that he does not agree with women’s football, and said that “That is not a sport for women”. When asked about the possibility that the club had a women’s team in the future, the businessman replied: “While I am handling this, no. That they will play tennis, volleyball or dominoes, but football no.”
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Numerous sectors have reacted against the statements of the maximum shareholder of the Magdalena Union. Through social networks and interviews with outstanding figures, many people have expressed their disagreement with such a sexist and retrograde position:
- “The Major Division of Colombian Soccer – Dimayor and the Colombian Football Federation – FCF, reaffirm their commitment to the growth, development and strengthening of women’s football in the country. We are proud, that by 2025, we present the edition that, until now, has been the most extensive of the Women’s League in the history of this competition, with an approximate duration of eight months. In addition, the tournament has the participation of 16 teams, the largest number recorded to date, “Dimayor.
- “It would be little prudent to blame those who are still trapped in 1950 without understanding that women fill stadiums demonstrating that talent does not need permission to step on the court. Neither football nor women’s sport needs validation of those who still do not understand that talent and passion have no gender,” Catalina Usme.
- “The world progresses … but not everyone has the ability to evolve at the same pace of him. If we are all responsible for what we believe. But our ideas are not born alone: the form, the culture, the context … and the more years pass, the more difficult it is to question them. Even so, you can and should. And eye: this type of attitudes only change if men also confront them. Córdoba.
- It gives me so much what to think that, in the middle of 2025, football managers on the coast of Colombia continue to make it clear, with their actions (or their lack of them), that machismo remains stronger than talent, discipline and dreams of thousands of girls who want to play football. It is unacceptable that, due to patriarchal prejudices and structures, support for women’s football is still denying. To the girls and young people who dream of breaking barriers: all my solidarity “, Carolina Pineda.
Dávila’s position has been compared to that of other managers in Colombia that, despite the growing acceptance of women’s football, are still reluctant to provide the necessary support for their development.
The Magdalena Union, known as the “Banana Cyclone”, has not has a women’s team since 2019, despite having had an outstanding participation in the first editions of the Women’s League. In 2017, the club participated in Group A of the Tournament, where it achieved five wins, a draw and four losses, leaving only two points to qualify for the final phase. In that season, Cinthia Zarabia, a Venezuelan player, was the team’s top scorer with seven goals in ten games.
