A one-page letter dated January 3 and his signature Neven Ilic, president of Panam Sports in which he announced that Colombia will no longer host the 2027 Pan American Games.Released the first political storm of the year, opened many scenarios of lawsuits at home and abroad, released the versions of the officials of the two governments, and it is already underway. In the declarations of discussion on the proposal of censure against the Minister of Sports and requests for information to establish disciplinary and even financial liabilities from the controlling bodies.
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The news fell like a bucket of cold water on the country, and was especially felt across the Atlantic, Where sports competitions will be held and where progress has been made in developing infrastructure to accommodate competitors.
Although the official notice specifies that due to Colombia’s non-compliance, the agreement signed on August 27, 2021 that would have defined Barranquilla as the host city was annulled, the city’s newly inaugurated mayor, Alex Char said that the government of President Gustavo Petro is making efforts to recover the organization of the Games.
EL TIEMPO learned from Palace sources that Petro asked his government team, in a brief message, to do everything possible to restore sporting events. One solution is to get Chilean President Gabriel Boric to mediate with the head of Panam Sports, also from Chile.
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Meanwhile, the Attorney General’s office opened a preliminary investigation and asked Sports Minister Astrid Rodríguez to explain the reasons that motivated Panam Sports’ decision, the reasons for the company’s non-compliance with what it says, and its economic consequences. – Compliance. Realization of the event.
In turn, Luis Enrique Abadia, Deputy Comptroller, in charge of acting as Comptroller General, maintained that Since October last year, they have been holding working groups to examine the issue in which specific commitments have been defined and since then they have already been warning about the loss of resources.
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In fact, the official warned of the risk that the city of Barranquilla could suffer a loss of more than two million dollars. This is due to the fact that clauses The agreement will operate in favor of Panam Sports in the event of breach of contract.
In the agreement known to this newspaper, it is noted that if payments are received by Panam Sports, these will “remain as property” of the company unless Colombia
Clause of the Pan American Games Agreement.
Carlos Alberto Zambrano, a former magistrate of the Council of State, told EL TIEMPO that in these types of contracts, companies usually specify what happens with non-compliance.
“Presumably the sanction is a loss of money and in this case the person who will respond will be the Mayor’s Office of Barranquilla, the Government of the Atlantic, the Ministry of Sports or the State, as agreed in the contract.Zambreno said.
Similarly, if a case arises in which the loss of resources is attributable to Barranquilla, There would be responsible officers who were not paying attention to ensure that this obligation was fulfilled.
“If, on the other hand, that money is lost through the fault of others, for example the Colombian nation or the Olympic Committee, it will certainly be their responsibility and in my opinion Given this situation Barranquilla will have the possibility to file a lawsuit to answer for lost money.“explained former magistrate Zambrano.
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At the same time, many voices in Congress called for the resignation of Astrid Rodriguez. In fact, the opposition has already announced that it will file a censure motion against the minister and the official will be summoned for political control.
Cambio Radical Party Senator David Luna and Democratic Center Representative Andres Forero announced the summons related to the Petro government official.
The mountain bike track that was being built for the Games continues with its construction as well as the maintenance of several stadiums.
Vanexa Romero/ El Tiempo
breach
“Panam Sports making this designation is a very special recognition for a country that has shown unconditional commitment to the development of sports in the continent. We were pleasantly surprised in 2018 with the organization of the Central American and Caribbean Games. Then they believed in us and despite the pandemic, they have made incredible efforts and work ahead of the first Junior Pan American Games Cali 2021, which has made us very happy and motivated.“This was said by Neven Ilic at an event held in Barranquilla in August 2021, in which Colombia was made official as the host of the Games.
On that day, the then President Dr Ivan Duque, the governor of Atlantico, Elsa Noguera, the mayor of Barranquilla, Jaime Pumarejo, and the president of the Colombian Olympic Committee (COC), Ciro Solano, who theoretically had the first phase of the organization of the Games.
From August 2022, with the change of government, the issue, which was the subject of annexation, It became the responsibility of officials appointed by President Petro.
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And on August 30 last year, the first significant warning about non-compliance came, with consequences already expected and a 60-day period to resolve the situation. In a letter published by RCN FM It has been mentioned that they may unilaterally decide to withdraw the Colombian headquarters for the Games and furthermore, “Claim any and all damages and any other rights and remedies available.”
The communication also referred to two earlier letters dated September 16 and November 15, 2022, stating that “they have seriously breached the agreement.”
Minister of Sports, Astrid Rodríguez and former Mayor Jaime Pumarejo received the Pan-American flag.
Barranquilla Mayor’s Office
Specifically, the letter mentions that an organizing committee was not formed, four million dollars were not paid as per organization rights, four million dollars were not paid for granting media rights, presentation of work schedule and detailed game budget for approval and 50 million for insurance policy. dollar.
On October 26 last year, Panam Sports had sent a fresh letter warning of continuing irregularities and hence It automatically revoked the “extension of time granted to cure host city contract breaches” listed in the first letter.
Sports Ministry Press
Confronted with non-compliance, Minister Astrid Rodríguez responded at a press conference: “The contract comes from 2021, the year the payment is made. No payment is made in 2022. In 2023 we resumed the conversation with headquarters to show our willingness to see how to continue and we committed to pay the 2022 payment in December, but we couldn’t do it because of the cash flow, that’s why we decided to do it. January ($8 million).
He added that meetings with Panam Sports have reiterated the government’s willingness to go ahead with organizing the Games.
Veteran leader Baltazar Medina, who was the president of the COC, was not very optimistic about the recovery of the sports venue and spoke of a chain of mistakes in the process.
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“First, lack of timeliness to fulfill commitments. The previous government supported the achievement of the headquarters, but did not mention the Compass document and it started from there. The point is that the headquarters is not given to the city, it is given to the country. And that too was not understoodMedina said.
And he added that “the government cannot ignore its commitments to the country, the Games belong to the country, not to a region or a city. It is also the COC’s responsibility, as it has international relations with other countries.” There just wasn’t the clarity of having the resources at that time.”
Ernesto Lucena, sports minister in the Duque government, said of the first payment that it had to make days before the new government took office and that he understood the extension was requested out of courtesy.So that the new government does this and they are not surprised with such a high payout. When I retired from the ministry, the creation of Compass was mentioned in the connection. I don’t know what happened”.
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