The world was shaken to learn of
the death in a plane crash
of the former Chilean president,
Sebastián Piñera
.
Like other South American presidents, Piñera was
closely related to football
, but there are two specific events that were remembered after his death: the day when the Argentine
Marcelo Bielsa
tried to deny him the greeting while he was coach of the Trans-Andean National Team, and when, as a fan of Universidad Católica, he agreed to buy the
largest share package of Colo Colo
and thus avoid its disappearance in 2005, being acquired by
Blanco y Negro SA
How was that?
Piñera's justification was that upon seeing
Cacique
's bad situation
he decided to get involved and that led him to acquire the club's shares
.
We send our most sincere condolences for the unfortunate death of former president Sebastián Piñera, who was also director of Blanco y Negro between 2006 and 2009.
A lot of strength in this difficult moment for all his family, friends and loved ones 🥀 pic.twitter.com/sD41FVtj7Q
— Colo-Colo (@ColoColo) February 6, 2024
However,
his brother explained in 2016
on the radio program "Más Beyond Football" that upon seeing the fanaticism of the Chilean people for Colo Colo,
he recommended that if he wanted to be president he should become a fan of
Albo
.
The sporting success
he had with
Colo Colo
, where they won six
league titles between 2006 and 2009
, took him to the polls and
in 2010 he became president of Chile
.
An almost failed handshake
That same year he received his National Team that had just played
the World Cup in South Africa
and greeted all the members of the team, but when greeting the coach,
Marcelo Bielsa, the Argentine almost shook his hand
.
The reason for Bielsa's anger would have been because
he was dissatisfied with how the invitation was prepared,
since according to him there were hidden interests.
In Chile they compared him to Macri
Piñera forged
a great friendship with Mauricio Macri
when he was president of
Boca Juniors
.
Even the Chilean media compared him to the then president of
Xeneize
.
The former president of the Nation also
fired Piñera this Tuesday through his X account
(formerly Twitter).
Immense sadness for the death of my dear friend Sebastián Piñera.
Good people, committed like no one else to Chile and to the values of freedom and democracy in Latin America... It really is a total, irreplaceable loss.
Today I say goodbye to a friend and a notable leader.…
— Mauricio Macri (@mauriciomacri) February 6, 2024
In 2017 he had to sell the shares of Colo Colo
because he was accused of intervening in the elections of the National Professional Soccer Association.
With the sale of his shares he earned 7 million dollars
.