Jorge Uauy and Jorge Yunge registered their slates on Tuesday to run for the presidency of the Asociación Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (ANFP), Chile's professional football league. The election will be held on November 19 and will decide Pablo Milad's successor.
According to BioBioChile, the surprise of the day was the exit of Lorenzo Antillo and César Villegas. Both had announced their candidacies weeks earlier but were unable to make them official. The registration deadline expired at 23:59, so only a last-minute "dark horse" could change the picture.
Uauy, president of Palestino, registered first, shortly after 15:00. His slate is called Unidos por el cambio (United for change). It includes Juan Tagle (Universidad Católica) as vice president, Jorge Contador (Coquimbo Unido) as secretary general and Diego Livingstone (Deportes Concepción) as treasurer. The directors are Karina Mazu (Deportes Recoleta), Ignacio Mehech (Cobreloa) and Eduardo Ramírez (Deportes Iquique).
La Tercera reported that Uauy's platform document proposes professionalizing management, strengthening the clubs and moving toward an orderly separation between the ANFP and the Federation, in line with the law. One line sums up his approach: "The clubs are not at the service of the ANFP. The ANFP must be at the service of its clubs".
Yunge, the ANFP's current secretary general and regarded as Milad's right-hand man, registered in the evening at the Quilín headquarters. Months ago he had ruled out running. His vice president is Sofía Galdames (Deportes Copiapó), with Andrés Sánchez (Santiago Wanderers) as secretary general and José Luis Navarrete, a former president of la U, as treasurer. Iván Cisterna (San Luis de Quillota), Andrés Alvarado (Deportes Santa Cruz) and Freddy Palma (Curicó Unido) round out the slate as directors.
Sources differ on Colo Colo. La Tercera said Yunge has the backing of a bloc that includes la U and el Cacique, as well as Ñublense, Magallanes, Wanderers, Santa Cruz, Curicó Unido and Puerto Montt. ADN Radio, however, noted that the albo club ultimately did not join the slate of the former Rangers president.
On the withdrawals, Antillo, a former president of Audax Italiano, told El Deportivo: "I'm out, for good. I couldn't put together a slate". Villegas, head of Deportes Limache and a sharp critic of the current leadership, even approached Antillo to form a joint slate. According to La Tercera, he has flatly ruled out supporting Yunge.
With two slates in the race, the clubs will vote on November 19 between the continuity represented by Yunge and the change proposed by Uauy.