Multitasking
is an English word whose use has become increasingly frequent in recent years to refer to a person's ability to perform several tasks simultaneously.
Andrés Merlos
seems to enjoy that virtue: the
international referee
from Mendoza, who is also
a non-commissioned officer in the Argentine Air Force
, became
president of the Alvearense Football League
, in his native province.
At the Extraordinary General Assembly that was held at the institution's headquarters on Wednesday night, Merlos was elected at the proposal of Club Atlético Colón and became the 18th president in the history of the League who on September 7 celebrated 80 years of existence (the first was Tránsito Ferreyra).
He will replace Homero Di Berardino, who had assumed command on January 23, 2023 and who will now be in charge of the vice presidency.
“I am very happy and grateful to this entire General Alvear football family. We have an important project. This was not born from one day to the next, with Homero Di Bernardino we have been working for more than a year. Although I was with the Referees School, I was also working at the same time to solve a lot of problems that existed and continue to exist in the League
," said the judge, who on December 17 directed the Cup final after his appointment. of the 80 Years of the League that Bowen beat Ferro 1-0 at the Héctor Antonio Moncada stadium.
It is clear that his commitments as a referee in domestic and international tournaments will prevent the 42-year-old from San Rafael from taking charge of the daily management of the League, which, as he explained, will not be a problem.
“You have to know how to delegate.
I did this with other positions I have had in my career.
Homero (Di Berardino) is going to be my right hand man.
This year, he showed me that with very little you can achieve a lot
,” he said.
The presence and influence of Merlos in Mendoza football is not new nor is it limited to General Alvear, a department of 50,000 inhabitants in the south of the province.
Last December 20, the referee aspired to the vice presidency of the neighboring Sanrafaelina Football League as a member of the list headed by Gastón Ureta (representing the Sportivo El Porvenir club) in the elections that ended up consecrating Diego Martín (promoted by the Sportivo Pedal Club).
In October of last year, Andrés Merlos directed a Superclásico between Boca and River for the first time.
Photo: Luis Robayo / AFP.
In addition,
Merlos is president of the Sanrafaelina League Referees School.
And in October 2023, that League, during the transition management of Juan Enrique Bielli (he had assumed the presidency after the death of Alberto Pérez Gasul), had appointed him as its representative before the Federal Council “for his outstanding career and valuable actions.” for the good of football,” as the organization justified in the note in which it requested that designation.
In the life of the judge who
in October of last year directed his first Superclásico
(River beat Boca 2-0 in La Bombonera), all the activities linked to baseball coexist with his work in the Air Force, with which he is linked for 27 years: he studied Aeronautical Mechanics at the Córdoba Non-Commissioned Officers School, from which he graduated with the rank of corporal specialized in aircraft mechanics;
For a decade he crewed Mirage aircraft, then he served in the Ceremonial Department of the General Staff and currently serves in the Argentine Military Sports Federation.
Did you know that the first division soccer referee Andrés Merlos is a non-commissioned officer in the Argentine Air Force?
pic.twitter.com/PsXywdIogU
— Ministry of Defense (@MindefArg) April 9, 2018
Now he will add to all his obligations this new commitment with the Alvearense League, which organizes competitions for first-class men's and women's teams, three youth categories (Fifth, Sixth and Seventh), children's teams and men's and women's futsal.
In the last first-class men's tournament, 12 clubs participated: Pacífico, Andes, Ferro, 10 de Septiembre, Argentino, Bowen, Real del Padre, Colón, Unión, Circunvalación, Libertad and Cielos Abiertos.
In turn, three of them competed in the 2023/24 edition of the Federal Regional Amateur Tournament, the fourth category for clubs indirectly affiliated with the AFA.
In that competition, in which 376 clubs from the 23 provinces of the country participated and which is currently going through its final phase, Andes could not overcome the first round in the Cuyo Zone, Pacífico was eliminated in the second and Argentino, in the third.
Bowen was the last Alvearense champion: he won the League's 80 Years Cup in December.
Merlos and the new Board of Directors will take the helm of a League that in recent years has been shaken by
acts of extreme violence
in matches of its men's championship.
In June 2022, a match between
Bowen
and
Colón
had to be suspended after Colón supporters invaded the playing field and
hit referee Alexis Tudela
and his assistants,
Yonathan Gatica
and
Tamara Silva.
In August of last year, during a match in which
Unión de Nueva Gali
received Argentino, the local team's footballer
Matías Vigil knocked down
Enzo López
, from the visit , with a punch and then kicked him twice in the head
, who should have be hospitalized as a result of that attack.
Two weeks after the incident, the Penalty Court expelled Vigil, who will not be able to play in League matches again.
Only a few weeks later, on October 1, in a match between
Real del Padre
and
Argentino
, there was a brawl between soccer players that was followed by an invasion of the field by fans and confrontations between those supporters and agents of the Mendoza Police that ended. with several injured.
As a result of the scuffle,
12 players were suspended
and both teams were declared to have lost the duel.
Dissatisfied with the resolution, Argentino withdrew from the tournament.
These recurring brawls generated an extra problem for the League clubs: the cost of the security operations required by the Mendoza Police for each match.
In July 2023, President Di Berardino maintained that
Alvearense football was “on alert”
, warned that, under these conditions, the Clausura Tournament could not be played and asked for support from the provincial authorities to find a solution.
“The clubs do a great job for the support and inclusion of our young people. It is very hard and unfair to have to pay this money in security. “These decisions are going to lead to the clubs being closed
,” the leader complained.
After a meeting with the Undersecretary of Institutional Relations of the province's Ministry of Security, Néstor Majul, it was agreed to reduce the number of agents in each match and that allowed the contest to begin.
The clubs' financial problems did not end with this and, in fact, they worsened in recent weeks.
One of the first answers that Merlos will have to give as president of the League will be
what will happen to its Summer Cup
: it was supposed to start last Saturday, but two days before the Board of Directors, still headed by Di Berardino, warned that the competition would not start.
What was the reason?
The “high cost presented by the refereeing body,” as explained by the League in a statement.
“These amounts cannot be paid to make the activity sustainable,” the organization argued.
It will be up to Merlos to resolve this conflict with his colleagues.
At home blacksmith, wooden knife.