ANDl Sunday, May 26, date 5 of the semifinal home runs of the BetPlay League 1-2024 is played in Group B and a couple of weeks ago the schedules for the Independiente Santa Fe vs. matches were defined. La Equidad and Once Caldas vs. Sports Tolima. But due to the results of date 4, the Dimayor (Major Division of Colombian Soccer) decided to change the time of the matches to be played simultaneously.
But the forms and procedure to implement this measure, which supposedly sought a ‘fair play’ measure, so that there were no advantages in the definition of the finalist, ended in scandal and a much greater division between the directors who preside over the Colombian League clubs and the top director of local football. Besides, The situation uncovers scenarios that show what is happening in Colombian football and gaps that are reflected from time to time..
On the morning of Friday, May 24, talk began about a possibility of change the schedule of the matches, which were defined to be played Santa Fe vs. La Equidad at 5:00 pm (Colombia time) and Once Caldas vs. Tolima at 7:15 pm (Colombia time). And in the afternoon it was confirmed from Dimayor that the matches would be played at 6:00 pm (Colombia time).
Tolima’s response to the change of schedule on date 4 of home runs of the BetPlay League 1-2024
Yeah Santa Fe and La Equidad played first and there was a victory for the ‘Santafereños’, for the match between Once Caldas and Tolima the locals would already be eliminated and without classification options. For this reason, Dimayor scheduled the matches at the same time so that the definition on the penultimate day of the home runs would not be affected, but that had never happened and in the same situations, which It was taken as a search for favor for the Bogotá reds.
In an interview given by the president of Tolima, César Camargo, to the ‘F90’ program on ESPN Colombia, there was strong criticism of the decision led by the president of Dimayor, Fernando Jaramillo.
Using an expression that became popular due to the constant unusual decisions of the highest entity in Colombian football, Camargo once again showed his rivalry and annoyance with the manager, thus as he had spent years ago with his father Gabriel Camargo (now deceased) before one of the finals against Millonarios in the first half of 2021:
I am sad to say that it is one of the ‘Dimayoradas’, the largest there has been, it is without consultation we found out through a ‘tweet’ from our contendersnot even by Dimayor, they published it before Dimayor and I feel sorry for what is happening. It cannot be that a schedule that had been agreed upon, agreed upon, accepted by the parties, with 48 hours remaining they change it and it turns out that this is ‘fair play’…
César Camargo recalled that in the home runs of the BetPlay League 2-2023 there was the same scenario and the same measures were not taken for the Tolima vs. matches. Golden Eagles and Deportivo Cali vs. Junior from Barranquilla. But with annoyance and vehemence, the Tolima president questioned the idea of ’fair play’ explained: “It turns out that it is ‘fair play.’ “That seems embarrassing to me that Dimayor does it and I would like to believe that she is innocent, but she is not.”.
In the midst of the controversy, there was confusing information, since it was said that the request was made by Santa Fe and Dimayor had attended to it, even Camargo himself gave it to understand that the claim was from the people of Bogotá and that they had had the information first. confirmed: “What the people of Santa Fe write down is correct, but that’s how it was agreed, those are the rules of the game and that’s how the championship takes place. Let this happen, that’s how it was agreed and the conditions were accepted. Come now, to change the schedules with The pretext of ‘fair play’ does not apply. This has nothing to do with the people of Santa Fe, but we found out through the Santa Fe tweet, we did not find out from Dimayor, as it should have been. “I understand that La Equidad does not agree.”.
and heCamargo’s words were clear, putting his voice of protest before public opinionjust at that moment the official statement from Tolima also came out to reiterate what was expressed by its president:
We are going to play under protest, we are going to make our voice of protest heard and the only thing we hope is that this does not affect the equality of the game. Changing the rules of the game and because today I woke up that this seems better or worse to me, one cannot change the dates of the game in less than 48 hours.
According to Camargo himself, in conversation with ESPN Colombia, they consulted with Dimayor’s manager, Simón Ferro, but they did not get answers and he accused them of “they turn a deaf ear”. And he explained that the annoyance is because, changing the rules and having to play simultaneously, his team had to go out to win with everything, open the game and take riskssomething that would not happen if Santa Fe tied or lost in the first game with the original programming.
Independiente Santa Fe’s position due to schedule changes
As already mentioned, there was confusing information, since throughout the day the media and journalists, including those closest to Santa Fe, indicated that it was a request from the red club and its president, Eduardo Méndez. But During César Camargo’s interview, a message from Méndez himself arrived to journalist Andrés Marocco from the program ‘F90’ and, explaining that he could not go on air, he denied any demands from his team to Dimayor:
He asks me not to involve Santa Fe in decisions that have nothing to do with it. He tells me: ‘I have not asked for change’, according to President Eduardo Méndez, Santa Fe has not asked for change
This leaves doubts in the air, since that aforementioned ‘fair play’ would only have the ‘cardinals’ as possible beneficiaries, in case they do not achieve victory with La Equidad. This was spread throughout the day by the media and their own fans, but with this scenario, journalist Jorge Bermúdez stated that it was all because “he felt like it” to Dimayor and this was confirmed by César Camargo:
I share and I say it with sincerity, when we asked Dimayor, forgive me for using the same expression as Jorge, ‘they felt like it’, because the people of Dimayor accept that Santa Fe had not asked for the change
President of Dimayor responds for changing match schedules in Santa Fe and Tolima in home runs
A while after the interview with the president of Deportes Tolima, Fernando Jaramillo went on air to explain Dimayor’s position and He was very firm in defending what happened, explaining that it is his responsibility to seek fair play:
That attribution is very clear from the president, we have already applied it and it must have a criterion. The criterion is that one of those clubs, on the date, can be eliminated. Precisely, the president of Camargo himself explained it from the point of view of competing with a club that could be eliminated. That was the reason, to give transparency, no type of suspicion and quite the opposite.
Faced with so many complaints and questions from journalists, sharing the annoyance of César Camargo and the people of Tolima, Jaramillo downplayed the change of one hour and having to play with time: “It’s an hour, we’re not changing the date, or we’re changing the day, taking away rest days. It’s an hour, playing simultaneously, really, I don’t see the big problem with that. If it were for a few days or we changed substantially the programming, but for an hour I don’t see the problem and it is different from the other group, that everyone has possibilities”.
He President of Dimayor explained that there were consultations with all the teams involved and Santa Fe, Once Caldas and La Equidad agreed.but denied Tolima’s position because they never responded to the communication: “The decision was made in order to give more transparency to that instance that we are playing and in that group. Everyone agreed, except Tolima, which did not say yes or no… We announced to them that we could change the schedule, they did not They spoke out. And when the decision was made, they expressed themselves.”.
Previous problems between César Camargo and Fernando Jaramillo
This disagreement gives rise to many speculations because, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemicwhen Colombian football was going through an economic and administrative crisis, leaving the return of professional football in Colombia in doubt due to division of the presidents, they decided to change the president of Dimayor, who was Jorge Enrique Vélez. At that time, Jaramillo and Camargo were the ones proposed by the big teams to take office..
But from the small teams and Santa Fe, the only big one in that opposition group, they had other candidates and have remained until now on the opposite side of the administration and the big clubs. But Tolima began to separate itself from the group of the greats since that final against Millonariosa team of which Jaramillo is openly a fan, and the clashes continue to increase with episodes like this.
Knowing the entire context, Jaramillo ratified his position and that of Dimayor: “It would be ideal for all 4 to agree, but for the sake of that date, in that group, the decision is that they be simultaneous… There is nothing substantive, nor dark, nor strange, nor does it harm one or the other … We don’t want to move the game an hour to harm Tolima and Santa Fe is going to take advantage of this. What advantage is it going to take, the two are going to play at the same time, at 6 in the afternoon, And that’s all that’s going to happen on this date?”.
This is how this chapter closes, but the story opens even more for the future and it seems something that will never end, at least, It would remain until Fernando Jaramillo leaves the position of president in Dimayor.
