David Mauro
Jorge Segovia’s election as the new ANFP (Chilean FA) president on 4th November caused La Roja’s manager Marcelo Bielsa to hand in his resignation. Less than three weeks later however, the ANFP has ruled his election illegal, putting the nation’s football in crisis and possibly paving the way for the coach known as “El Loco,” a beloved hero since leading La Seleccion to the last sixteen of the World Cup, to remain in Chile.
The ANFP cited the relationship between some of Segovia’s businesses and the federation as the reason for invalidating the Madrid-born businessman’s appointment. Segovia owns Chilean side Union Espanola and had defeated incumbent president Howard Mayne-Nicholls by a vote of 28 to 24 to pick up the presidency. The president-elect received much of his support from Chile’s largest clubs, who sought to restructure the league’s cable contract to award them more revenue.
Segovia’s reputation for meddling in team affairs had led Bielsa to announce he would step down if Chilean football club owners elected the Spaniard. El Rosarino’s resignation duly came, and was met with outrage in Chile, with many viewing the ANFP’s decision as a ploy to attempt to hold on to Bielsa, who took La Roja to their first World Cup since 1998.
“You are seeing the true face of Mayne-Nicholls,” Segovia told reporters. “There is no doubt he is behind it. He has not accepted that he lost the election.” Segovia claimed he was a victim of a personal smear campaign orchestrated by Mayne-Nicholls and his allies. Neven Ilic, the president of Chile’s Olympic Committee, declined to intervene in the dispute, telling La Tercera “I won’t go where I am not invited.” Ilic is known to be a friend of Mayne-Nicholls.
Guillermo MacKenna, president of the country’s largest club Colo Colo, called the decision to disqualify Segovia “lamentable, to say the least.” Colo Colo, along with Universidad de Chile and Universidad Catolica, stood to gain the most from a restructured cable contract that Segovia had favoured. He suggested that a possible meeting of all the club presidents to seek a way to reinstate Segovia could take place on 10th December.
Bielsa, who has recently been touted a possible replacement for Rafael Benitez at Inter Milan, has not yet commented on the ANFP’s ruling. After what was thought to be his final match, a 2-0 friendly victory over Uruguay, last Wednesday, thousands of Chileans pleaded with the Argentine to stay. It seemed impossible then, but if Segovia remains ineligible, Bielsa, who had signed a five-year extension in August, could remain in his post after all.
