South American roundup - Bolivia title outcome in balance

Published>Mon, Nov 29 10 10:46 PM

Oriente Petrolero celebrated winning the Bolivian Clausura championship but must wait for the result of an appeal over unpaid fines before discovering whether they will get their hands on the crown.

Apertura champions Wilstermann, who did so badly in the Clausura that their points average has consigned them to relegation, and Real Potosi raised complaints with the Bolivian Professional Football League over Petrolero's failure to pay fines for fielding players with faulty registrations, putting six of the champions' points in the balance.

Petrolero have appealed against the fines and given the snail's pace of such issues in Bolivia, there could be a repeat of the five years it took for The Strongest to be officially confirmed as 2005 champions in 2009.

Petrolero finished the Clausura with 40 points after their 1-1 draw with The Strongest at the weekend, four ahead of second-placed Bolivar, who lost 2-0 away to Blooming in Santa Cruz de la Sierra.

Wilstermann, relegated for the first time, have qualified for the South American Libertadores Cup as Apertura winners but will play domestically in the semi-professional regional Cochabamba league next year as there is no national second division in Bolivia.

Petrolero's Argentine-born coach Gustavo Quinteros, who played for Bolivia at the 1994 World Cup in the United States, is leaving the club to take charge of the national team and prepare them for the Copa America in Argentina in July.

CHILE

Universidad Catolica shares on the Santiago stock exchange rose as the team went three points clear in the Chilean championship with one match to go.

Shares in Cruzados SA, the company that administers the club, increased by nearly 23 percent in early trading on Monday following the 3-2 win away to Cobreloa.

"The rise is due solely to the result obtained at the weekend by the team," said analyst Jorge Tolosa. "It is (due to) expectations they will be champions ensuring important revenue in the (South American) Libertadores Cup (next year)."

Champions Colo Colo, who led for most of the season, allowed Catolica to pull away when they lost 2-1 away to O'Higgins virtually handing the title to the team coached by former Spain striker Juan Antonio Pizzi.

The defeat sparked rioting by Colo Colo fans who damaged seats in the stadium and fought with police, forcing the referee to end the match a minute early.

URUGUAY

Nacional extended their unbeaten run under coach Juan Ramon Carrasco with a 2-1 away win over leaders Defensor Sporting with one match to go.

Defensor Sporting are one point ahead of Nacional, who made a poor start to the season before appointing former midfielder Carrasco.

Champions Penarol, whose coach Manuel Keosseian quit last week, ended a run of four matches without a win by beating Central Espanol 3-2 with a Diego Alonso hat-trick and are two points off the pace.

Source: Web Search