Emelec will have a new president on November 23

This week, the hot topic, that has everyone talking about, is the upcoming elections for the new Chairman and Directors of Club Sport EMELEC. Ferdinand Hidalgo, the current Chairman, released a press statement this Wednesday confirming his “intentions” of calling to elections by November of 2007, and not the next year as many people though. The elections will be held as soon as the Ecuadorian Soccer Federation (FEF) approves the reform of the club’s statutes, which allow elections to be called only in the first weeks of January. So, if the FEF does not approve the statute reform, elections will be just wishful thinking.

Now, is it the approval of the FEF that necessary to have elections? Not really, according with Dr. Ecuador SantaCruz, legal advisor of Corporacion Capwell, who says that a general assembly of club members has the legal power to call for elections. If that’s the case, why doesn’t Ferdinand Hidalgo call for a general assembly? I will return to that point later on. In the meantime, which is the side that is losing in here? Obviously, our team: EMELEC. It really amazes me how calm Ferdinand Hidalgo and his whole crew are. For them, it doesn’t matter the fact we did not even make it to the playoffs, that we are almost financially ruined, and that the team’s performance was so dismal that just to mention the year 2007 is enough to piss us all off. How long it will take them to understand that their administration was a colossal failure? That they failed so miserably in their mission. That they screwed up so badly that almost sunk the whole ship. That failure and mediocrity are the best and only words to describe their years in EMELEC.

There is no question that Ferdinand Hidalgo and his people are living in a bizarre parallel world. They are both so relaxed and undisturbed, that for a moment, you would think that EMELEC has just won the Copa Libertadores. They don’t just seem to care for the fact that in 2007 their administration was so incompetent that the club’s lower divisions could not even afford new uniforms and cleats. Is this how you are supposed to run a soccer club? In other parts of the world this is enough reason to demand a recall of every single member of the executive board. But, as you can see, in Ecuador, logic sometimes goes backwards.

Meanwhile, Corporacion Capwell, is doing anything it can to put Hidalgo and Quintana right where they belong: anywhere but EMELEC. The corporation held a public meeting this Tuesday where their plans and goals were presented, and they finally announced Elias Wated as their candidate to be the new EMELEC’s Chairman. Their vision is really good, at least on paper. Among other things, they want a club financially independent, transparency in the balance sheets, better marketing and management, more investment in infrastructure, more services and benefits to club members, and they also want EMELEC to be the first Ecuadorian club to win Copa Libertadores. In sum, what a Soccer club is supposed to be. However, will they be able to accomplish what they promise?

Fourteen years ago, we, the fans, heard exactly the same thing. We were promised the entire gold of Babylon. Many of us though that the election of Aspiazu and Ponce was the right thing to do. But, as the time went by, those promises became, just like our former national currency, el Sucre, in nothing less than useless wet paper. The plans of Corporacion Capwell sound fantastic but there is no guarantee that those plans will turn into a reality. Fourteen years ago, we let ourselves be deceived by a bunch of people, that many of us though, had good intentions. But, as we later found out, they just gave us the finger. Today, we are still paying the price for that decision. Based on that, I would rather be a little bit skeptical than a blind believer.

Don’t get me wrong. Corporacion Capwell is filled with people with proven backgrounds and clean repu*%&tions. Who would put into question the credibility of Eduardo “El Ñato” Garcia? However, there are, among them, some rotten apples too. How can we prevent these rotten apples to take over and ruin the tree? By getting involved in the team and becoming club members. There is not other way around. In fact, that’s the reason of the actual crisis. We let others to take control of our club and to make decisions behind our backs. EMELEC became an autocracy and not a democracy. Why doesn’t Hidalgo called for a general assembly? The only ones, who can pressure him to do just that, are the club members, and since, they are still a minuscule group, Hidalgo will never even bother to call for a general assembly. He is not feeling the heat around the corner. That’s why he is relaxing on his couch. So, he will just pass la pelotita to the FEF and play dumb.

If we don’t learn from our history, we are doomed to repeat it. It doesn’t even matter that Corporacion Capwell has such great ideas and intentions. If we don’t get involved in the team, the efforts of men like Elias Wated and others are useless. The rotten apples will keep growing and contaminating our team. By the time, we realize that it might be too late. We can’t afford another fourteen years of embarrassment and failure. I think we had enough. The only thing I hope is that these elections don’t become a ridiculous and dramatic telenovela, because if it does, the winners are not going to be us.

!ARRECHO EMELEC!

Robinho Brazil o Rafael Correa

Debo admitir que tenía mis dudas si escribir sobre lo que me va a costar volver algún día a la Península, o acerca de una noticia que salió publicada en esta semana que señalaba que las FARC en su página web proclamaban a Chávez como un “huracán político” y a Fidel Castro como un “guerrero del amor”, solo falta que nos digan quién es “la paloma de la paz”. Pero fue un hecho curioso lo que me obliga a escribir de fútbol, de la jetattura y de esas coincidencias que tiene la vida.

Ocurre que conversaba antes de la derrota de la Selección de fútbol con un amigo, quien aseguraba y anticipaba el resultado catastrófico de 5-0 que luego se dio, argumentando que tras todo este ciclo de malos resultados lo que existe es una especie de jetattura, mejor conocida en nuestro medio como salazón. Como mi amigo es una persona seria, pienso inicialmente que se trata de una broma, pero no, me percato de que está totalmente convencido de la existencia de una situación extraña que incidía directamente en los resultados del equipo.
Siendo un tanto escéptico al respecto, ya que me parece que esas cosas no existen en la realidad, trato de explicarle que creer en ese tipo de hechos es simplemente superstición y que como tal teníamos que tener fe en el equipo. No, me repite, la jetattura está probada y vas a comprobar que funciona de forma inequívoca.

No solo eso, prosigue mi amigo, estando totalmente convencido de su palabra. Brasil ya iba 1-0. La salazón es de tal magnitud que influirá directamente en el desempeño de la Selección, la cual no solo no clasificará al Mundial, sino que también quedará entre las de peor desempeño en estas eliminatorias. Caramba, le digo, qué dramático te has puesto, ante lo cual me señala algo adicional que me deja perplejo: esta jetattura afectará no solo a la Selección sino también al desempeño de tu equipo, entendiéndose el Emelec, el cual por años estará alejado de cualquier aspiración de un campeonato. Para qué diablos mete a Emelec, pienso; pero a esas alturas Ecuador estaba a punto de empatar. O al menos eso decían los comentaristas deportivos.

Ahora bien, le pregunto, ¿en qué consiste o quién provoca la jetattura? Ah, me dice muy suelto de huesos, la culpa la tiene tu presidente Correa, él es culpable directo, ante lo cual le replico que se deje de hablar pavadas, ya que lo que estaba exhibiendo era su frustración ante el apoyo popular que tiene el mandatario. Mucho cuento, le digo y de repente Brasil mete el segundo y el tercero y veo luego que Robinho hace algo fuera de toda lógica, lo baila a Ulises en una baldosa antes que recibamos el cuarto gol. Ahí está, le reclamo, la culpa es de Robinho no de Correa, ante lo cual se enoja y me achaca, no seas ignorante, Robinho no hace esa jugada hace más de tres años, estas cosas ocurren, Correa tiene la culpa y lo que se dará, se dará. Justo en ese momento, viene el error de Viteri, el quinto gol y enseguida, oigo la cancioncita de Patria en la televisión. Me levanto y mejor me voy a mi casa, pero al llegar mi hijo menor me pregunta, papá, ¿qué te pasa? No me pasa nada, le digo. No me creyó.

Marcelo Elizaga seleccion del Ecuador

El médico de la selección ecuatoriana de fútbol, Patricio Maldonado, informó a Confirmado.net que definitivamente el arquero Marcelo Elizaga del Emelec quedó descartado para los encuentros eliminatorios frente a Venezuela y Brasil.

Maldonado señaló que Elizaga presenta una herida de 10 centímetros en su cabeza por el choque del martes contra Joffre Guerrón que le produjo un corte y posteriormente una sutura de seis puntos. Aclaró que el golero se encuentra adolorido y debe permanecer en reposo absoluto por cuatro días.

Más adelante, los médicos de la selección enviarán a Marcelo Elizaga a los galenos del Club Sport Emelec para que analicen la situación. Maldonado indicó que por tratarse de una herida en la cabeza, no lo quieren arriesgar.