First Attempt to Restart South American Soccer Championships Fails

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – As South America without soccer sounds like a paradox – an ocean without water – on Friday, July 17th, an attempt was made to restart matches on the outskirts of Asunción, Paraguay. The experiment was a failure.

In what was expected to be the first reopening of national competitions after the suspension imposed by the coronavirus, the Paraguayan championship stumbled over confusion, haste, and the risks of contagion surrounding the return of the sport: dozens of positive cases at three clubs forced the local soccer association to defer the date, scheduled for the weekend.

The coming weeks will be decisive in determining whether South America is heading for a return to soccer or for a health threat to players, managers, doctors and their clubs’ assistants. In addition to the attempt to restore normalcy in Paraguay, which has postponed its return to next Wednesday, July 22nd, other countries have now confirmed dates, although still dependent on the progress of the pandemic: the ball will roll again in Ecuador on July 29th, the calendar in Peru will be resumed on August 7th, and Uruguay and Brazil have scheduled matches for August 8th.

The resumption of the Libertadores Cup, scheduled for September 15th, has served to pressure teams from other countries to return to training in recent days. Some Colombian and Venezuelan clubs were back in training last week, Chile’s started on Friday and Argentina and Bolivia will join them in early August. Latin America may keep its borders closed for its citizens, but not for its soccer players.

Fragility

However, the situation is so precarious that the resumption of the Paraguayan Open tournament was suspended on the morning of the very day it was scheduled to take place. Early on Friday, the local association announced that 52 people from three teams – San Lorenzo, 12 de Octubre and Guarani – had tested positive on Thursday evening. The vast majority of those affected are not players, but rather members of the clubs’ technical staff. The tests on three referees were inconclusive. The authorities have decided to carry out new control protocols and believe that the tournament can be resumed mid next week.

What is emblematic in this case is that the South American national leagues were to return to the field on Friday with two matches: General Díaz-San Lorenzo and Sportivo Luqueño-Olímpia, which were to be played in Luque, on the outskirts of the capital city of Asunción, and also host the South American Soccer Confederation (CONMEBOL). From the building led by Alejandro Domínguez, it takes only 800 meters to walk to General Díaz’s stadium and another three kilometers to Sportivo Luqueño’s stadium. Those walking will obviously be required to wear masks and respect social distancing. Although Paraguay and Uruguay are the two South American countries with the fewest coronavirus cases, Luque was declared a health emergency last week because of an outbreak: 40 employees at a supermarket in the CONMEBOL home city tested positive.

In contrast to the spread of the pandemic in America, but in line with the wishes of TV rights owners, the CONMEBOL confirmed last Friday that international competitions will soon return: the Libertadores Cup 2020, interrupted on March 11th, will return on September 15th. “They set a rather arbitrary date,” complained Argentina’s Health Minister Ginés González García.

As the original schedule for the competition is maintained, several teams are expected to visit Brazil, the country with the second highest number of deaths in the world, and welcome the Brazilians to their respective stadiums. It is still unclear whether the return of the Libertadores Cup will be a reality in a few weeks or will remain only on the CONMEBOL wish list.

Meanwhile, waiting for Paraguay to resume its championship on Wednesday, the second competition scheduled to be restarted also hangs in the balance. Although the Ecuadorian Federation maintains Wednesday, July 29th as the return date, the rapid spread of the virus in Quito has now changed part of the schedule. Of the two friendly matches scheduled for next week as a drill to implement the protocol – one in Guayaquil and one in Quito – the match in the Ecuadorian capital has been adjourned sine die. The Ecuadorian authorities will make the final assessment after the two trials.

Peru, Brazil and Uruguay

Nothing seems to prevent the return of soccer to Peru, the country in the world with the fifth-most cases of coronavirus. The Abertura Tournament will be resumed on Friday, August 7th, in an emergency format: all matches will be played in six stadiums in Lima, with no sponsors or visitors and, logically, no fans in attendance. The 20 teams from the first division, including the 13 from the interior of the country, are currently training in the Peruvian capital and are staying in hotels under the protocol rules: more than 30 players tested positive.

The following day, Saturday, August 8th, Uruguay and Brazil are scheduled to return. The Uruguayan teams have been training for several weeks. Days ago they began to play friendly matches and the restart will include the country’s classic derby: Nacional and Peñarol on Sunday, August 9th, in Montevideo.

In line with the uncontrolled health situation affecting Brazil, soccer in the country is a complete shambles: some state tournaments, such as the Carioca Championship, have already ended, while the one in São Paulo will restart on Wednesday, July 22nd, with another derby, Corinthians vs Palmeiras. The start of the Brazilian Championship is scheduled for three weeks from now, although not all teams have started training.

With no date set yet, soccer in Chile should also return mid-August. Argentina and Colombia would restart their activities in mid-September or early October, with the Libertadores Cup already underway.

Source: El Pais