2024-08-15 04:26:21
In an interview with Canal del Fútbol, the president of the FEF (Francisco Egas) spoke about important issues related to the preparation for the Copa América, sanctions against Arboleda and Gonzalo Plata, publication of the VAR audios, the financial situation of the FEF and the holding of the Copa Ecuador.
Below, we will review the most important statements made by Francisco Egas in this interesting talk:
Preparation and objectives for the Copa America
“Given the current situation of South American football and the strength with which this Copa America has been designed and how it is being treated, Ecuador cannot be the exception. We have to fight tooth and nail for everything that is at stake.”
“A good Copa America means seeing our team compete, our team going head to head with the best and hopefully achieving results that make us proud of having worn the tricolor jersey that day.”
“A match has been confirmed for June 16 against Honduras in Hartford (Connecticut), which is a city close to New York, where we hope our compatriots who live there can join us. And another match whose opponent is yet to be confirmed in the next few hours and which will surely be in Philadelphia on June 12 in the middle of the week.”
Trip to the USA for the Copa America
“The idea is to start the trip to the United States in the first days of June, probably the first of June. There is a peculiarity, and it is that many of our players finish their tournaments before the start of the FIFA date in June. So, we will be able to have them earlier, the idea is that they have a few days of rest and then they join the national team here or in the United States.”
Sanctions for Robert Arboleda and Gonzalo Plata
“Two things come together here. One is what has been said about the players’ free time. However, I think that the Federation is interested in the profile of the player who has to be in the national team. This is not only about football, but also about the example, about discipline. So I think that these are issues that will be taken into account in the future of the call-ups.”
“This is an issue that also affects the coaching staff, obviously respecting the guidelines of the national team. So the final word will be up to the coach (Sánchez Bas).”
Publication of VAR audios
“What FIFA does allow is that edited audio clips for educational purposes can be released after the matches, and we have been in this process for some time now.”
“It is practically in the hands of GOLTTV and LigaPro to be able to provide us with the images to implement the release of audios for educational purposes, audios edited to comply with the educational purpose of FIFA.”
“We have discussed this with Néstor Pitana (head of CNA) and he agrees. So we are only depending on LigaPro and GOLTV providing us with these images at some point.”
The Ecuador Cup is being held and the LigaPro is being returned to the FEF
“I was in Colombia with one of the people interested in the rights to the Copa Ecuador, that was the objective of the trip. We only talked about the rights to the Copa Ecuador, which we have practically closed.”
“The Ecuador Cup will be played in 2024, the announcement will be made soon.”
“I want to be emphatic about one thing: the Federation is not interested in the Ecuadorian tournament (LigaPro) or in the television rights of Ecuadorian football. It is interested in knowing that the teams can get out of the current (economic) situation in which they are in a very difficult situation.”
“I was not in agreement with the contract that was signed (GOLTV) and I was even less in agreement with the administration of that contract. I believe that it ignored many of the guarantees and security measures for the clubs. The administration has been permissive with the lack of payments of that contract, it has been permissive with the repeated breaches of that contract, they have made the clubs reach the situation they are in.”
Financial situation of the FEF
“We have been making satisfactory progress on this issue. There are two elements that have been crucial to the Federation’s indebtedness: one is the debts inherited in 2019 and the other is the low income that the FEF received until 2019.”
“We had 4 million in advertising revenue (2019), today we are almost reaching 10 million. We have been paying off our debts, last year we covered practically 8 million dollars of debts with the FEF budget. This year, 2024, we have to do something similar, we have the Copa América which will perhaps be an incentive.”
“The Federation has been doing a good job on the financial side, this does not mean that we do not still have debts, for example we have a significant debt with the referees that has been reduced by almost half. We have finished paying all the amounts we had pending for the Copa Ecuador (2022), there is no longer any debt with the clubs for the Copa Ecuador.”
Application to host the Copa America in 2028
“President Domínguez (CONMEBOL) welcomed with great optimism and satisfaction the knowledge that Ecuador is willing to invest to host not only the Copa América, but any regional tournament that could be useful to promote Ecuadorian football and tourism and generate income.”
“Having the government’s support to host any of these tournaments will be a very important incentive. Then, whether or not it can be done (Copa America) will be seen in the future. You witnessed what the last Copa America was like in South America in Brazil, which is in fact the largest country in the region and the best prepared due to the stadiums it built. We have to do a lot of work if we want to be considered again to host a tournament of this importance.”.
FEF intervention in BSC elections
“We have tried to be close but today there is talk of a roadmap… there is no need for one. The statutes of the BarcelonaSports Law, Conmebol and FIFA; in that sense, it is the only thing we are going to monitor”
“We trust that this time all the steps stipulated in the regulations of the FEF and the law of the Ministry of Sports.”
🚨”THE FEF IS NOT INTERESTED IN THE ECUADORIAN TOURNAMENT OR THE TV RIGHTS” 🚨
🎙️ @franciscoegas : “Copa Ecuador will be played in 2024, we will make the announcement soon.”
Full interview📲 pic.twitter.com/lLELkFDHDC
— ®The Football Channel 🇪🇨⚽ (@ElCanalDFutbol) April 26, 2024
Source: Orbita Deportiva