In a significant turn to alleviate the deep economic crisis that Deportivo Pereira is going through due to non-payment of salaries, its main sponsors have made an unprecedented decision.
According to what two of them have revealed, they are going to disburse their sponsorships directly to the team’s players and collaborators.
This measure seeks to guarantee compliance with labor obligations and avoid a deepening of the club’s difficult situation.
The initiative was announced by the manager of Aguas y Aguas de Pereira, Mónica Paola Saldarriaga, who confirmed that the company, as the team’s sponsor, will pay its contribution directly to the footballers.
The official pointed out that legal consultations gave them support for this decision, whose main objective is “to protect the city’s team.”
For its part, Energía de Pereira issued a statement informing the community and the Matecaña fans that, in a joint agreement with the club’s directors, direct payment of the pending sponsorship will be made to the accounts of a part of the payroll of players and collaborators to whom fees and benefits are owed.
“With this agreement we seek to contribute to the solution of the team’s current situation, prevent the crisis from deepening and, above all, guarantee compliance with the labor obligations that are in charge of the club,” indicates the statement from Energía de Pereira.
Deportivo Pereira sponsors assume direct payment of salaries to overcome crisis
The company emphasized its commitment, noting that, although “a sponsorship does not imply co-management rights,” they have done “everything possible to be part of the solution and not the problem.”
The team’s crisis has escalated to the national level with the direct intervention of the Minister of Labor, Antonio Sanguino. Through his account on the social network X, the Minister wrote the forceful message: “The ball is not stained!”
Sanguino revealed that his office has taken drastic measures to protect the labor rights of the club’s employees:
“As Minister of Labor, I ordered the preventive suspension of the work of Deportivo Pereira for failing to pay salaries and social security.”
The head of the Labor portfolio was emphatic in stating that “Football must also be played with respect and labor dignity”, supporting the action that seeks to pressure the club to regularize its contractual and salary situation.
While sponsors and the National Government act to mitigate the immediate impact on workers, the administrative and financial future of Deportivo Pereira remains uncertain.
The decision of the Minister of Labor and the unprecedented action of the sponsoring companies mark a turning point, seeking to restore the dignity of the players and collaborators in the midst of one of the most delicate moments of the Aurirroja institution.
More sports news