The vicissitudes that he has had to go through University of Chile while working on repairs to the National Stadium They have been a permanent source of anguish, inside and outside the blue box. For this reason, the need for the U to have its own stadium is becoming more and more demanding for the leadership of Azul Azul.
The vice president of the dealership, Cecilia Perez He is not unaware of a challenge that will continue as a headache next year. “We have been informed that the National Stadium, due to all the works being done for the biggest sporting event the country is going to have, the Santiago 2023 Pan American and Parapan American Games, could not be used,” he admits.
The possibility of a small window of use between March and April can provide a scenario, for example, for the classics against Colo Colo and Universidad Católica in the first round of the next National Championship.
“If there is a possibility, by the way we are going to request it. And if not, we are already looking at a stadium where we can play local until we can fulfill the dream that we have wanted to have for so many decades, which is our own stadium,” he acknowledges. Perez.
– But is it long for that?
“Let’s hope not. We are working very rigorously, with a lot of professionalism, but without selling smoke, which I think is what has been played with for so many decades with the fans.”
– What do you start with? Will there be a kind of socialization of the stadium with the community that surrounds it, with the neighbors?
“Our president, Michel Clark, said publicly that the first thing is to look for land that both in the Metropolitan Regular Plan and in the communal regulatory plan, allow the construction of a high-end sports venue.”
“There we are looking at some land to then move forward with the political authority, the communal authority and the community. We want a stadium with a social seal, not a stadium closed to the community,” he explains.
“I don’t think the ANFP has a bad relationship with the U”
The refusal of different regional political authorities to authorize stadiums for the University of Chile has been the black note of planning for 2022. The vice president of Azul Azul demands solutions. She was the metropolitan mayor from 2011 to 2012, and she believes that more can be done.
“I did it. Today the figure of the mayor does not exist and the functions between the presidential delegate and the regional governor are diluted. But being a mayor, there was never an excuse to make parties of high convocation on a date. At that time we faced these parties in two or three different stadiums, and it would never have crossed my mind that acts of violence would win sport. That look has been regressing and one often feels that the political authorities prefer to put on the patch before the wound, that fulfill a function that corresponds to them by legal mandate”, he remarks.
– Is there unfavorable treatment towards the U?
“In the case of the University of Chile, we have felt permanent discrimination during 2022, which we hope will not be repeated in 2023 (…). We continue to regret decisions by the political authority. And that does not correspond, not even with the University of Chile , nor with any club. The law mandates them to fulfill a function, to play a role in favor of football, male or female. And not to be omitted, so that before the match takes place they say that it cannot be played”, points out the former minister of the government of Sebastián Piñera.
“Universidad de Chile at one point faced five consecutive games in five different regions, and that not only had an impact on sports logistics, on the squad, but also on the fans, who 48 before found out if there would be a game or not, and where. We feel that this was very poorly handled by the authority,” he says.
– There were also frictions in football. Is it true that they believe that the ANFP wants to harm the U, as President Pablo Milad slipped?
“We have the support of the ANFP on some occasions, but not on others and we let them know. I don’t think there was a bad relationship established with the ANFP on purpose. But you also have to understand that in super difficult times, when we were in danger fall into the relegation zone, we expected more support, for example to ensure a sports venue to play when the political authorities closed the doors to the U”.
Next season will debut an operations plan that will bring together the ANFP, political representatives, clubs and the forces of order and security in pursuit of objective guidelines for the authorization of the different stadiums. Cecilia Pérez believes that this is where things are going.
“Better coordination was missed. Today it is taking place and we hope not to face this type of inconvenience again, which affects sports performance. We hope that 2023 will be super different, but also clear: whenever Universidad de Chile feels that something is not appropriate, he will make it transparent and he will say it”, he completes.