Countless are the stories of whole players and teams that suffer delays in their fees in national football, a evil of never ending and nobody does anything
When the last 2025 closing tournament ended, players of up to four teams from the First Division of national football they had not received their complete fees. Greater was the amount of those who had suffered some delay. And it is not a situation that only affects the “boys” teams, Fas and Águila were among those involved, as well as Platense and Once Deportivo.
Read more: another first division team with problems paying salaries
The problem of delays, defaults, and handling that scratch in the mation of managers – threats that they will leave them without playing soccer players – is not new, but there is not long for changing reality.
Neither the Salvadoran Football Federation, nor the Leagues called Professionals, nor the players have done enough to try to normalize this situation, and the “normal” is that there are always problems of this type each new tournament.
Even whole teams have disappeared in which large debts were left to most players and coaches (let's remember the cases of Atlético Balboa, Chalatenango, among others), and then simply changed their name to return to football when they had already lost the category.
The right to decent salary is considered a fundamental human right. It is guaranteed through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international legal instruments.
This right ensures that people have access to fair remuneration for their work, that allows them to live with dignity and cover their basic needs and those of their family. A fair salary is key to its food, housing, education, medical care, among other aspects related to human rights.
When there are delays or defaults, what happens is not only a violation of a human right, but an affectation to people to be able to meet those basic needs.
An eternal evil
Carlos Castro Borja (active as a professional between 1987-2003), Álex Eraz (2005-2013), Adonay Martínez (1994-2013), to mention some, they are retired players who have narrated how in various teams they lived situations in which they were delayed wages, they did not pay prizes or did so half, and even being well-recognized soccer players and that they militated in large teams. To the extent that a player belongs to a less media institution and with lower income, and when they are not “stars”, they are also more vulnerable to these situations.
There have also been cases in which players, carrying out the corresponding work of their profession, have been injured and then have “thrown out” of the team, breaching labor standards and contracts in some cases.
In 2023, for example, the case of Steven Eduardo Paniagua, from Santa Tecla, who was injured in a game against Alliance was news. Two months later, he had not yet been operated on the anterior cross ligament rupture of his right knee. It was the fans, commanded by the organized group Titleños de Corazón, which resorted to a bank loan of $ 3,500 to pay the operation.
Read more: Platense players showed the lack of payment
That same year, for example, the Titleño female team had denounced the default of everything that was going on an opening tournament until then, with several months accumulated.
More sounded was the case of Gerson López, exarcraque of 11 Deportivo, who was injured in the game of Opening 2024 and just ended contract at that time. The team's board decided not to renew it. It would pass up to 8 months disabled by recovering, but it was without livelihood, something that does not allow the FIFA regulation. Finally, after media pressures, and also the intervention of the standardizing commission of that moment and the support of INDES, Gerson was able to follow his recovery process and receive help for medical expenses, not compensation.
A structural problem
For Jaime Solís, partner of BDS Advisors, experts in Labor Law, there was an attempt to improve the contractual situation of the players during the period of the last normalizing commission of the FESFUT, when Humberto Sáenz Saenz Marinero was, but, in his opinion, there were always problems, beyond that something changed at that time.
“There is a confusion from the beginning of how to treat the player. The player is a worker and must quote ISSS, AFP, must have vacations, Aguinaldo, a subsidy for the time that is incapacitated by a disease like any other worker, but here they want to make him see how a contract for professional services, old man,” he said in talks with a court.
In the aforementioned period (last regularized commission), however, the teams were more attentive to try to pay salaries on time. Very famous was the case of FAS, which was noticed that it would not be scheduled parties if they did not pay on certain date the backward salaries, and the board of then responded to a few hours to avoid losing points in that way, and, in the long run, also to be out of the first division.
However, in general terms, the Fesfut has always wielded that it cannot act if the players do not demand, that is, it is not enough that it is known about the delays, but that a legal process must be followed, to present themselves to the unit corresponding to the Federation so that it investigates and can act, in case of corresponding, against the directives.
In the background, there is a structural problem, because although there is a collective insurance for these cases, the amounts do not remedy months of delays or, an eventual disappearance of a team as an extreme measure in the face of the defaults of little serves. When that has happened, the players still run out of their full money, and, in addition, without a team in which to play if it disappears, as happened with Chalatenango or Atlético Balboa.
Nobody in the Federation, to date, or the Association of Players (which has not implemented nothing in particular in this fight), has sought a real solution that allows players to have a mattress that guarantees all of their salaries and job stability, and these, in fear of being “vetoed” by the same teams of the national round, prefer not to carry cases on demand (see note separate).
This media even tried to speak with a former national player and selected who lived similar situations in the past, and that, even today, for still linked in football as a coach, he preferred not to speak openly of the subject for fear of reprisals, something that perfectly exemplifies that fear is maintained.
In some cases, such as the 11 Deportivo (which ended up becoming the Hercules), they finally paid the players what they were due to the Clausura 2025 (December) tournament last May 16, several weeks after having finished their work, and with a delay of the 2024 final prize of more than 4 months. It is worth mentioning that during the waiting period, many contract debts, accumulate interest on cards, and end up paying more than it would correspond to their basic services. In others, they perform other tasks outside football that on many occasions is detrimental to their careers. In addition, there are documented cases of soccer players who, although they did not receive their salary complete, signed a settlement accepting a reduction in order to receive their freedom letter to find another team; Some leave with nothing.
Not less, the last group of people who formed the Federation License Commission, and who saw cases such as FAS (in which the payment of wages was streamlined) resigned (under the administration of the current normalizing commission) after the endorsement of the magical González was given to play and pay attention to a previous resolution they made.
Currently, the little that was won in labor matters in Fesfut a few months ago, only memories are left. Meanwhile, players, as always, have to wait for them to pay them.
The number
4
Equipment
The first division ended the Clausura tournament with some kind of delay in payments, either for awards, salaries or both: eagle, fas, sports and platense.
The data
An ever end evil
The issue of salary defaults and breach of vacation payment, compensation (for injuries), ISSS payment, AFP, duplicity of contracts and threats in exchange for the letter of freedom continues to exist in the country, a situation that has been maintained for decades. One of the most popular cases (at the time it was not public, was later known) was the default of the promised awards to the players who classified the World Cup in Spain 82.
To know
Advance and setback
During the period of the regularization commission that Humberto Sáenz Marinero presided over there was greater pressure towards the equipment to pay the salaries, through the directive but also of the licensing commission. That advance was lost once they left, and turned to the same practices of unpunctuality.
