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Río Negro de San José was scheduled to host Danubio this Wednesday in the round of 16 of the AUF Uruguay Cup, after having eliminated Boquita de Sarandí Grande and Porongos de Flores in the previous phases. However, they qualified for the quarterfinals without playing, given the withdrawal of the franjeado team.
Peñarol (facing Piriápolis) and Cerro (facing 18 de Julio), who were supposed to debut this week, also withdrew from the competition, dissatisfied with the conditions and the format, and announced that Wanderers (with Villa Española), Defensor Sporting (with Paysandú Bella Vista), Cerro Largo (with Melo Wanderers) and Progreso (with Rincón Fútbol Club) will not play.
Gabriel Rodriguez, president of Rio Negro de San Jose, regretted the fact because “it was good that a team from the capital came to San Jose.” “There was expectation in the town and it would have been a party,” he said in a conversation with the program Hour 25 from Radio Oriental, and regretted the “sloppiness with which this cup has been organized.”
“Hostages of a political confrontation”
On Tuesday at 5pm they were officially informed that they would not play, even though they had made it clear from the clubs’ statements last week. “Some may take it as a snub by the capital’s clubs to those from the interior, but I see it as a political issue. We are being held hostage by a political confrontation in Montevideo,” said the top executive of the Maragato team.
“This cup was modified compared to last year. In 2023 there was a prize of 50,000 dollars in infrastructure for the amateur club that came last in the Uruguay Cup. Barracas de Dolores won it, but they have not yet been paid. This year that prize was removed for amateur clubs, which was an incentive to continue. Last year, they paid for appearances in televised matches. Today there is no prize or television coverage,” he lamented.
Rodríguez clarified that “the expenses and costs are covered”, although it is not enough because “OFI football is not as amateur as some people think”, since “everything involves an expense”. “I hope that, according to the regulations that the clubs have in Montevideo, a sanction is applied and that half of it corresponds to Río Negro”, he added.
Greater attendance than several matches in the Uruguayan Championship
The match against Danubio fell in the middle of the finals of the Apertura Tournament of the San José Major Soccer League, which began last Sunday with a 1-1 draw against River Plate. Until August 25, the team competed in the A division of the National Club Cup, which is “the highest aspiration that a club from the interior can have.” “We are the only club that has never been relegated. And everything is supported by hard work,” he commented on the matter.
Río Negro, which lost on penalties to Porongos de Flores in the quarterfinals of the top club tournament in the interior, has in its squad players with a past in the capital’s professional football such as goalkeeper Bernardo Long, midfielders Maximiliano Calzada, Roberto Brum and Mariano Rubbo, and forward Líber Quiñones.
Now, having qualified for the quarter-finals of the Copa AUF Uruguay, they are waiting for Paso de la Arena or City Torque. “Unfortunately we will be visitors, which implies a cost for us and we will miss out on collecting money at the Casto Martínez Laguarda”, where they sold 1,500 tickets against Porongos. “In the capital, they don’t take into account what a big team from the interior moves. Sometimes I watch the matches of the A and B teams from Montevideo and I see empty fields”, he concluded.
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