Venezuelan squad rebel against authority; refuse to take field unless demands are met
In a shocking news that was revealed recently, it came to light that 15 members of the Venezuelan soccer team have rebelled against the football authorities. They have threatened to not represent their national side for the ongoing 2018 World Cup qualifiers unless and until they see that the coaching staff and the directors of the Venezuelan Football Federation are suspended.
The turbulence brewed when the players got to know that they have been accused publicly of conspiring towards the overthrowing of their coach Noel Sanvicente. Laureano Gonzalez, the head of the federation, had stated.
“A movement came together there (inside the team) to throw out the coach, who is our winningest national coach,” Gonzalez said.
#Futve Presidente (E) FVF Laureano Gonález se reunido con directivos de la 1ra para definir torneo adecuación pic.twitter.com/luhLralTlh
— balonazos.com (@Balonazos) June 5, 2015
The players had come up with a quick reply of remonstrance, “declarations are totally false and defamatory of our honor and reputation.”
Among the players offering this declaration was,Tomas Rincon, Oswaldo Vizcarrondo, Salomon Rondon, Roberto Rosales, Cesar Gonzalez, Luis Manuel Seijas, Franklin Lucena, Grenddy Perozo, Josef Martinez, Juan Falcon, Nicolas Fedor, Gabriel Cichero, Ronald Vargas, Alejandro Guerra and Christian Santos.
But the ultimate uprising was fueled by Fernando Amorebieta’s dubious decision to retire from national football. Fernando Amorebieta currently plays for the English club, Middlesbrough on loan from Fulham as a centre-back.
In an “environment already damaged by our directors," the player suffered a blow to their confidence and were unsure of representing their nation. They wrote, “As long as the Venezuelan Football Federation is commanded by the current directors ... (the) dream of going to a soccer World Cup is threatened."
Seldom do we come across such instances of rebellion in the world of football these days. Seldom these days, do almost all the members of a football team stand down in unison against the figure of authority.
In the South American qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup, Venezuela are at the bottom of the table. They have played four matches in the qualifiers. The number of points they have gained? Zero.