FIFPro Division Americas Secretary General David Paniagua has "announced that FIFPro will be asking" South American confederation CONMEBOL on Tuesday to "exclude clubs that are in debt to their players from its competitions, including the Copa Libertadores de América and the Copa Sudamericana," according to Mark Baber of INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL. Paniagua: "What we are trying to achieve, and this is a fundamental topic that we are going to discuss with CONMEBOL, for example, is that a club that is in debt cannot participate in either the Libertadores or the Sudamericana." Paniagua was in Quito, Ecuador to investigate the "financial crisis facing most Ecuadorian clubs, which are mirrored in Paniagua's home country of Bolivia." CONMEBOL has recognized FIFPro, which "brings together some 65,000
players in the world, as the legitimate representative of the players" (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 10/20). CAUGHTOFFSIDE's Daniel Price reported CONMEBOL has "taken note of the comments, and are seemingly set to introduce measures that are more severe than those imposed by UEFA." Paniagua: "We can't allow the problem to to become one for each individual
association or union. If CONMEBOL doesn't intervene, it's going to be
very difficult to establish financial fair play." He went on to
"stress that lots of South American clubs are facing difficulties due to
offering player contracts that are beyond their budgets -- causing
several players to threaten strike action over unpaid wages" (CAUGHTOFFSIDE, 10/17).
IN ECUADOR: EL TELÉGRAFO reported FIFPro legal adviser Carlos González said that it is necessary to "change the law" governing Ecuadorian football. He said, "This law differs from reality because it puts at risk the fundamental rights of the players and gravely violates the rights established in the Constitution. Every country is sovereign to regulate professional activity. It is a lie that if it intervenes, there would be a problem, because a private law cannot be above the laws of a nation." González pointed out the examples of Colombian, Peruvian and Chilean football. In Colombia, "for example, a law was established saying that if clubs do not pay their obligations in 60 days, they cannot participate in national tournaments." Currently, "only one of 36 clubs in Colombia owes salary to its players" (EL TELÉGRAFO, 10/16).
