The Impact Of The Columbian Medellin Cartels On Soccer

The drug cartels in countries such as Columbia and other South American countries had a significant impact on soccer in the 1990s when it came to the financials of the soccer teams. As a matter of fact, during that time the drug cartels were particularly helpful to the communities in the lower class, in which the cartel would build schools, soccer fields and other important buildings such as hospitals, while also being extremely generous to the soccer teams and players. It is for this reason that this paper will argue that, even though some may consider the cartel to be dangerous, the case of the Columbian Medellin cartel demonstrates that they had a positive and powerful impact on the Columbian soccer community. I will argue that by analyzing the ways, specifically, Pablo Escobar used his wealth from drugs

Pablo Escobar, the ruler of the “underground world” was the leader of the Medellin Cartel that was ran throughout Columbia. He made a lot of illegal drug money and needed a way to legalize his money. Eventually came the ownership of a Columbian soccer team “Atletico Nacional.” Using the soccer team was quite an effortless way for Pablo Escobar to legalize his money. All game ticket sales were in cash, allowing him to lie about the number of tickets sold in the arena which furthermore let him start to legally use his money from the cartel. Due to this amount of wealth, Escobar started to gain popularity and a liking from the lower-class population in Columbia due to the fact that Pablo was using his money