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by Satish Sekar \u00a9 Satish Sekar (December 28th<\/sup> 2020)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The match between Per\u00fa and Argentina in the 1978 World Cup is one of the most talked about and scandalous in the history of the World Cup \u2013 football even. Argentina won 6-0, amid accusations of bribery: corruption, intimidation or worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There were even accusations that Per\u00favian players were threatened by Videla\u2019s cronies at half time. Why were they even allowed into Per\u00fa\u2019s dressing room?<\/p>\n\n\n\n And Per\u00fa\u2019s Argentina-born goalkeeper Ram\u00f3n Quiroga was just added to the perception of a fix. Was all this just coincidence? Were the events that followed it coincidence too? The aid package and more. It certainly smelt fishy \u2013 a quid pro quo \u2013 but although nothing has ever been conclusively proved for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quiroga even issued a denial but few believed it. Argentinean striker Leopoldo Luque performed well in the whole tournament and he has suspicions that he didn\u2019t win the World Cup fair and square \u2013 the doubts robbed him of the joy he would have felt and wanted to feel about that triumph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether Argentina\u2019s win was \u2018dirty\u2019 or not Ricardo Villa is certain that the players were used by the junta too. Videla and his cronies were capable of this fix and a lot worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The dismal second-half performance displayed by Per\u00fa caused many to believe that it was an absolutely blatant case of match-fixing. It may well have been. Circumstantial cases have been won on a lot less evidence than this. And more would emerge as time passed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The major players in the fix \u2013 victims, perpetrators and \u2018facilitators\u2019 \u2013 had something in common that is largely missed in discussions on it. Argentina was ruled at the time by one of the most brutal dictatorships ever seen in that country. Brasil was also ruled by a military dictatorship and to complete the trio, so was Per\u00fa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n None of these \u2018governments\u2019 respected human rights or democracy. They were vicious murderers \u2013 there were no good guys in this scenario \u2013 but all three knew the power of football. All three wanted to taste success and its benefits, but one was far weaker than the others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Per\u00favian dictatorship, like its players, was vulnerable to pressure. The Per\u00favian economy was weak. Badly needed assets were frozen in Argentina. Per\u00favian dissidents in Argentina were a convenient bargaining chip and food was another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It had been just three years since the fall of General Juan Velasco Alavardo\u2019s government. Velasco came to power in a coup d\u2019\u00e9tat in 1968 \u2013 he left the same way seven years later, dying in 1977.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Velasco seized power from President Fernando Bela\u00fande Terry after a series of disputes and attempted coups threatened another. Velasco had led a bloodless coup in 1968 \u2013 the left-wing General became a dictator. Ill and facing a declining economy Velasco surrendered power in a bloodless coup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was replaced by General Francisco Morales-Berm\u00fadez Cerruti. While governing as the second President of the Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces, the revolutionary phase was over. Morales-Berm\u00fadez pursued economic and political policies far more in tune with dictators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Five years later, facing the same problems as his predecessor, Morales-Berm\u00fadez surrendered power. Per\u00fa came full circle as the man deposed by the coup of the Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces became President of Per\u00fa once more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Morales-Berm\u00fadez is the oldest living former President of Per\u00fa. His reputation recently took a deserved hit. His government had been accused of profiting from the World Cup \u2018fix\u2019 previously, but worse would follow \u2013 far worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1978 Berm\u00fadez benefited from the Fix. His economic policies were failing. Argentinean banks released $50m of Per\u00favian assets and several tonnes of food (wheat) was sent to Per\u00fa shortly after the \u2018fix.\u2019 But there was worse. Videla and his cronies were unrivalled in monstrous acts, despite their claims that it was just the jealousy of rivals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Per\u00favian dissidents who were a thorn in Morales-Berm\u00fadez\u2019 side. There was a solution \u2013 bestial one. Thirteen dissidents were \u2018rendered\u2019 to Argentina before that term was coined. They were subjected to the \u2018tender mercies\u2019 of Videla\u2019s thugs. In return Per\u00fa agreed to throw the match, so Argentina could progress in the tournament and Videla could have the victory he craved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That was the sinister deal that former Per\u00favian Senator Genaro Ledesma detailed to an Argentinean court in 2012. Whether there was a \u2018fix\u2019 or not, it cannot be disputed that Per\u00fa\u2019s dictator received much-needed assistance from Videla\u2019s dictatorship when he needed it most. Further investigations in Per\u00fa in 2015 verified Ledesma\u2019s claims, and he should know. He was one of the 13 rendered prisoners, which included: Ricardo Napur\u00ed Schapiro, Ricardo Letts Colmenares, Javier Diez Canseco, Hugo Blanco, Justiniano Apaza, Guillermo Faura Gaig and the journalist Alfonso Baella Tuesta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The international outcry at the time saved their lives, forcing Videla to release them and deport them to M\u00e9xico or Europe. So, Videla got his fixed result without having to do Morales-Berm\u00fadez\u2019 dirty work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2017 Morales-Berm\u00fadez hollow denials of involvement in atrocities was exposed as he was convicted in Italy in absentia of crimes associated with the notorious Operation Condor and sentenced to life imprisonment. The sentence was confirmed in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quite simply, the \u2018fix\u2019 reeked of a dastardly deal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The match between Per\u00fa and Argentina in the 1978 World Cup is one of the most talked about and scandalous in the history of the World Cup \u2013 football even. Argentina won 6-0, amid accusations of bribery: corruption, intimidation or worse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2174,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[19,12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fittedin.org\/fittedinwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2175"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fittedin.org\/fittedinwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fittedin.org\/fittedinwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fittedin.org\/fittedinwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fittedin.org\/fittedinwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2175"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/fittedin.org\/fittedinwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2186,"href":"https:\/\/fittedin.org\/fittedinwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2175\/revisions\/2186"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fittedin.org\/fittedinwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fittedin.org\/fittedinwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fittedin.org\/fittedinwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fittedin.org\/fittedinwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Fix<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Innocent\u2019 Victims<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
A Vulnerable Dictatorship<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Vile, Viler and Vilest<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n