The scandal that shook Chilean athletics during the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games doesn’t stop All because of the accusations of racism and classism that Berdine Castillo and his partner Poulette Cardoch have done against Ximena Restrepo and the coach Marcelo Gajardo.
Castillo demands exemplary sanctions and changes in the technical system of the Chilean Athletic Federation (Fedachi), emphasizing that she is not interested in a conciliation but in an adequate sanction and structural changes.
The controversy arose last November when Castillo and Cardoch were excluded from the 4×400 relay in the historic event on national soil. Cardoch denounced his exclusion, claiming that there was no technical justification and that it was due to external pressures. Castillo also reported having been subject to racist and classist insultsand that Restrepo pressured for his departure from the team.
Both athletes and coach Juan Pablo Raveau filed a formal complaint for mistreatment against Restrepo and Gajardo, which led to a CNAD process that ended in April with the accused being acquitted of all charges.
The last. The 24-year-old athlete of Haitian origin presented at the end of May an appeal for protection before ordinary justice which was declared admissible.
“Yes, I am interested (that justice is done)but without forgetting or losing focus of what I want to do… If I say: ‘I have a lawyer who is looking at this whole issue’, it is because I want justice to be done and also for a precedent to remain so that it does not happen later. to another athlete,” said the athlete in dialogue with The Mercury from Spain.
“I decided to take him (to the ordinary courts) because of what happened there at the hearing at the CNAD (…) Because we could not speak, because we could not present all the things“So, we and the lawyer were brought in to bring the witnesses…”, he added.
It was this last situation that led to the Team Chile athlete turning to the Court of Appeals to present an appeal for protection, accusing errors in the CNAD process.
Castillo is not interested in a conciliation with Restrepo and Gajardo. He wants a sanction and for there to also be a change in national athletics.
Currently, the Chilean athlete is in Segovia, Spain, preparing for different competitions that may open the way to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
