The Mutual of Professional Soccer Players decided in an assembly to lift the strike and resume soccer, after considering the response to the proposals made to the National Sports Secretariat and the Ministry of the Interior, in relation to guaranteeing the necessary security conditions for the players, satisfactory. The stoppage measure had been taken in the face of the acts of violence denounced by the Villa Española board of directors, on June 30, and sports activity resumed on Friday. The union met last week with the National Secretary of Sport and the Ministry of the Interior. Within the commitment they obtained from the authorities is that of having a police presence during the weekend, with a so-called “point of contact or police reference” in each campus, which identifies situations that may exist before, during and after a game. . With the support of the Ministry of the Interior and the AUF, if something happens, this reference will be able to identify the need to reinforce security. The area of the Villa Española club and Obdulio Varela will also be reinforced and there are other solutions that must be taken within a couple of weeks.
The Disabled List
The National Secretary of Sports, Sebastián Bauzá, told Diario La R that “since we took office, we presented in the Law of Urgent Consideration and it was voted by all the political parties, the regulation of the list of those prevented from entering public shows because we think which is the only way that we can work so that violent people cannot enter the fields and we can denounce them and try to keep them from entering the stadiums”.
He added that “it is impossible for the police with the number of shows that are going on at the same time to be everywhere” and maintained that, “unfortunately, acts of violence are being recorded throughout the country.”
Regarding the specific request of the Uruguayan Mutual of Professional Soccer Players, he mentioned that what was requested by the union was that “the campuses be taken care of, by virtue of what happened with the Villa Española club”, before which, “a follow-up will be carried out particular to this team that will train on its field again. “They also requested that each institution have a reference police officer in case it is necessary so that this effective calls the Republican to attend that party in case it is necessary,” he said.
“This figure of the reference policeman is a new figure that will be created for the consideration of the Mutual with the consent of the Ministry of the Interior and work is being done so that each campus has this care.”
In the same way, he asserted that “the acts of violence were varied, not only what happened in Villa Española, but also in Cerro-La Luz, in inferiors of Rocha with Italiano (punches) among others.” Asked about the reasons for the dispute in the match between Paysandú FC and Bella Vista de Paysandú (July 6) for the AUF Uruguay Cup while the cessation of professional soccer activity was decreed, he stated that the Mutual only ruled the interruption of the activity in the “professional” field and these teams do not meet this condition.
Alonzo: “New package of measures will improve the security of schools”
Along these same lines, the president of the Uruguayan Football Association, Ignacio Alonso, maintained in dialogue with Diario La R that “the AUF differentiates violence on two levels: The first in the sphere of the Villa Española and Cerro – La Luz, in which partials were involved who attacked soccer players, which is not the traditional case that we attacked, which was between partials in the stands and its immediate effect during and after the matches; this is fixed due to face ID cameras, penalties and subsequent blacklisting.
In turn, Alonso, explained that “we already have a package of measures to apply in the Closing Tournament that consists of a new security protocol, match delegates, activation of operations in risky matches, provide in writing to the clubs in meetings of risk a traffic light with red, yellow and green indicators. Thus, in the observation periods, we will attack this issue more efficiently. These definitions will be issued by the AUF Security area”.
In relation to the new methodology of the reference police that each campus will have, he pointed out that “this arose from the meeting of the parties to resume football, this will be consequent to the risk of each game, there are events that do not have major complications and others do. The climate prior to each game will be measured and these indicators will be taken as a reference.
On the other hand, he said that the Mutual promised to have talks with the soccer players because it is a “high heart rate” sport and there have been violent acts between soccer players, he also avoided that with this cycle of conversations they will seek to “reference the footballer from the field of the guild and it will be solved in that plane ”.
Asked if the underlying reason for this momentary cessation of activity was due to a discussion over television rights and an attempt to destabilize the association’s Executive, he emphasized that “the Executive Committee is very strong and remains proof of everything , but beyond that, it has been demonstrated and we understand that these issues must be treated seriously. The main issue that Uruguayan Soccer faces is that of television rights because that is where the largest source of income is within the system and that is where the largest amount of income is also lost. That is why we put it on the table at the meeting we have with the clubs and we maintain the same idea. We are going to continue talking about this until we solve it quickly and without any political suspicion. This is the number one issue, the loss of income from rights and commercialization of television rights, ”he emphasized.
