Pablo Milad, president of the National Professional Football Association (ANFP), denied that there had been a conflict at his meeting this Thursday with the two emissaries FIFA sent to Chile. According to Milad, the organization wants institutional stability for Chilean football.
La Tercera reported the news. The meeting brought together FIFA envoys Jair Bertoni and Mariano Zavale with Milad, Jorge Yunge and the four representatives of the Council of Presidents on the Football Federation of Chile (FFCh): Cecilia Pérez, Aníbal Mosa, Jorge Uauy and Cristian Ogalde.
The meeting addressed implementation of the new law on Professional Sports Corporations (SADP), which requires the ANFP, which runs the league, to be separated from the Federation. According to La Tercera, the two candidates for the ANFP presidency are running only for that position, so the winner will not lead the FFCh, and another election will be needed to choose its board.
According to press reports cited by El Periodista, FIFA proposed that the winner of the ANFP election on November 19 take charge of the league. The Federation's leadership would be decided in a later vote, with Milad remaining in charge temporarily. The same account says Uauy, president of Palestino, questioned Milad's continued leadership in front of the envoys. That reportedly prompted a rebuke from Pérez, president of Universidad de Chile, who later denied that the argument had taken place.
Milad backed Pérez in an interview with CNN Chile. “I was there for 100% of the meeting and never saw any outburst, earthquake or scandal,” he said. He added that descriptions of a scandal or earthquake seemed to stem from “someone's imagination, I don't know whose.”
Milad acknowledged that there are “differing positions,” but clarified the organization's stance: “What FIFA wants is stable governance, no transitional administrations.” According to his explanation, FIFA wants him to finish his term and hand the Federation over to a president with a four-year mandate, rather than one lasting “one, two or three months.”
Milad maintained that there is consensus within football, including the National Amateur Football Association (ANFA), and among the stakeholder groups that will make up the future Federation Council. He said the statutes had already been agreed with them and only needed approval.
He also ruled out seeking another term. His intention, he said, had always been to “hand each of them a key, the key to the ANFP and the key to the Federation.”
FIFA set a deadline: the Federation's elections, for a four-year term, must take place no later than February 28, although they could be held earlier.
