This Friday marks the start of Matchday 8 of the National Tournament, with the match between O'Higgins and Huachipato at 8:00 PM at El Teniente. This date has a particularity: the leader, Colo Colo, is not scheduled to play over the weekend. What happened?
When the ANFP published the match schedule for Matchdays 8 and 9 on March 25, the match between the whites and Coquimbo was set for Sunday, May 3. The reason? Although the governing body of Chilean football did not provide an official statement on the matter, unofficially it is pointed out to Article 22 of the Tournament regulations.
"When a team participates in an official international competition outside the country, its Championship matches will be scheduled on dates and times that consider a minimum of 72 hours in advance. " Coquimbo faces Universitario from Peru next Tuesday, the 14th, in Lima. The match could not take place on Sunday, but it could on Saturday.
The issue is that UC is already scheduled for that day, and two major teams cannot play in Santiago on the same day. Journalist Juan Cristóbal Guarello, on his program "La Hora de King Kong," opened another avenue of speculation. "Why don't Colo Colo and Coquimbo Unido play?
Just because of the time restriction. For rest, if they played on Saturday at 8 PM, Coquimbo would have no problems playing on Tuesday at 10 PM against Universitario. Because of this time restriction, the match had to be suspended, not because the Conmebol rest deadlines were not met; it's so absurd that Palestino plays on Saturday in La Cisterna and then again on Tuesday," he pointed out.
All of this poses a sporting problem for Cacique, who could lose the top spot in the Tournament to Limache, who visits Palestino on Saturday at 8:00 PM.