The countenance and feeling is definitely one of nonconformity. The joy is present in the followers of women’s football, because those women who at some point dreamed of becoming professionals in a time where kicking a ball and playing women’s football was frowned upon, or even in some more extreme cases, prohibited, has reached its end of a time for here. Now they are the ones who make us dream of a World Cup or the Olympic Games.
However, that nonconformity is shown more and more when they achieve a historic achievement challenging the impossible. Linda Caicedo, 17 years old, fought to get Colombia to a final in Bucaramanga, and in turn, to classify the national team to the most prestigious sports event in the world such as the World Cup, and as if that were not enough, to the Olympics that will be played in 2024.
It is as if achieving the goals is not enough to overcome the problems that women who play soccer face. Colombia was going to celebrate that for the first time in the history of the BetPlay Women’s League, it would have two semesters, something that knocked on the doors of the tournament administration at the beginning of the year. However, over time, rumors emerged that there would not be a second contest in 2022.
What example does the country that hosts a Copa América show if the work of the soccer players is not respected? Surely now they will boast as they have always done for the achievements of women’s football without any merit. Well, we are talking about the fact that they are the ones who fight because discipline is valued. This was the case in the Copa Libertadores of Atlético Huila in 2018, the Pan American Games in 2019 and the number of spectators who go to each game in Cali and around the country.
The BetPlay Women’s League always faces rumors that they want to end it. The professionals with drive and the caste that characterizes them, manage to show results that even attract more attention than in the case of men who are not qualified for the Qatar 2022 World Cup. They do have a League, and they will always have it, unlike the women.
It is sad to see Linda Caicedo, Daniela Montoya, Catalina Usme, Diana Ospina, Lorena Bedoya, among other figures on Colombia’s payroll completely unemployed in the second half of 2022. Catalina, Diana and Linda will at least have the Copa Libertadores, but the others no. It is without a doubt, going back to that setback, to that uncertainty in which only Deportivo Cali and América de Cali will compete in the international competition.
Surely the other soccer players who work in local soccer will not sit still and will train in the best way to reach 2023 with competition and with sessions to prepare for the World Cup, but it is clear that keeping up the pace without competing is more than complex for any professional.
The tournament that Fernando Jaramillo proposed was to make a League of at least eight clubs in the face of the loss of several that did not want to participate in the second semester because they knew that once again the excuse was the Copa Libertadores for not having a worthy tournament as they deserve. A contest of only two months because in October you have to run for the international club competition. A clown what the entity that regulates Colombian football wanted.
The Colombian Women’s National Team entered the first match against Paraguay grabbing their arms and extending them upwards as a sign of protest for the mistreatment towards them and the little interest on the part of the leaders in making a worthy Women’s League. This reinvigorated the chance of making a fair contest in the second half, but it fell off again.
Now, with the cry that they reached the final, that they qualified for the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and for the Olympic Games in Paris, France 2024 has to be that incentive for them to make a serious Women’s League once and for all and not just to comply. If the Copa Libertadores del Huila and the Pan American Games were not enough, this Copa América has to do its thing and knock on the doors of the Dimayor.
This, reaching the final, qualifying for the World Cup and the Olympics is the best way to protest for guarantees and a decent league. What better than protesting winning and meeting objectives? Until when will Colombia have to shut up mouths with titles at club and national team level for the League to be respected? It seems that those cries are being ignored more and more when a goal is achieved. They dreamed of playing soccer, and little by little, they are once again cutting off those longings for future generations who are already giving something to talk about by qualifying for the U-17 and U-20 World Cups.
