Red card

Pablo Escobar owned Atlético Nacional; Millionarios belonged to José Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha, a rival drug trafficker; and the Rodríguez Orejuela brothers of the Cali “cartel” held shares in América de Cali. Offering astronomical salaries, their teams lured foreign stars like Argentina’s Julio César Falcioni and Ricardo Gareca. In 1991 Colombia’s top league averaged a healthy 15,423 fans per game.

Since then Colombia’s government has broken up the mobs. But football clubs have had trouble adapting. Per-game attendance has fallen: last year it was just 8,099. Colombia’s national team have not qualified for the finals of a World Cup since 1998. According to Rafael Arias, the general secretary of Dimayor, the league’s governing body, the old influx of easy cash encouraged clubs to spend freely. When the money dried up, they were left with huge debts.

América de Cali, which won five consecutive national titles in the 1980s, has been on the United States Treasury Department’s list of groups tied to drugs for 12 years, crippling it financially. It now owes its players ten months of back pay. Last month Coldeportes, the government’s sport regulatory agency, barred it from playing until it pays its wages. Deportes Quindio, whose players refused to travel to Bogotá last month over withheld pay, and the Once Caldas club were also penalised.
 
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