They say football brings people together, sometimes even the worst of enemies.
The game’s incredible ability to become a bridge over troubled water is part of why we love it so much. Over the last three years, two sides of Colombia’s most deadly conflict agreed to put their hatred and differences behind, and unite under the embrace of the beautiful game. Former guerillas from the FARC organization and victims of the bloody war tell the amazing story of La Paz Fútbol Club with their own feet.
Félix Mora presents: 68 years of conflict ends with football
The roots of this conflict date back to 1948 with the "La Violencia" civil war, an armed conflict between the conservative government and the Liberal party, after the assassination of the presidential candidate and head of the Liberal party, Jorge Eliécer Gaitán. The conservative government has long been oppressing communist activity with the support of the US, leading communists and liberals to unite and create the underground organization known as FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia).
It’s hard to believe that the conflict lasted until 2016 when both sides signed a peace treaty in Bogota, bringing to an end a war that caused the death of hundreds of thousands of victims. Right around that time, a new social initiative took form with the not very catchy name of "Education, training, and culture for peace and citizen coexistence, football and peace". Félix Mora, a lawyer who specialized in Human Rights, is the one who started it all. He strongly believed in the idea that sport could serve as a peacemaker. So, two years later, he formed the much catchier Football and Peace Foundation. In 2017, just after the peace agreement with the FARC was signed, La Paz FC was officially established. Mora's vision was to create a team that will include both guerillas and victims of the war. He also wanted to create a women's team and U-20 team, with a final goal of becoming DIMAYOR members, the body that unites Colombian professional teams.
Félix Mora, the founder of the transcending club, La Paz Fútbol Club (Photo: Fundación Fútbol y Paz)
“ I wanted to show them a way out of the horrors of the war.”
In an interview with "El Tiempo", Mora explained: "I grew up in the country just like any other Colombian who listens worriedly to the news regarding this unreasonable war that hurt anyone of us. La Paz is a team that combines young men from different parts of society that lived and felt the war in our country. I wanted to show them a way out of the horrors of the war". The club was officially established in 2017 after the agreement was signed between the two sides – The FARC and the Football Foundation". In the signed document, both sides supported the project which also received the support of the Colombian government and the FARC leader, Rodrigo Londoño.
Can La Paz FC become pros?
The club's office is located in Soacha, in the Cundinamarca county and the team plays its home games in the municipal stadium. The club, which received its license on September 2017 has senior, women’s and youth teams. Public bodies support the club (the Bogota municipality among them) and various private sponsors and even the former president of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos.
The club already made history when it participated in Normandy's World Peace Forum in Cannes, France in 2019, playing two friendly matches. A 2-0 win over Bayeux and a 3-0 loss to Normandy were the club’s first international footprint. These days, the club plays in Bogota's amateur league but aims for the second division as part of the DIMAYOR professional association. Mora already filed another request to join and said: "I'm sure that we'll be able to build a decent, stable team that can keep up with professional Colombian football. This is our biggest aspiration, and I hope that we'll receive a positive answer." Bogota's mayor already said that the team could play at El Campin Stadium, which serves the city's major clubs. The Dimayor still haven't responded, but Cucuta Deportivo was recently disqualified due to financial difficulties, freeing up a spot for a new club. While this is bad news for the Norte de Santander club, it could be gold for La Paz FC - its best chance to join the professionals in 2021. We will all be supporting this wonderful new club and the new era it represents for all Colombians.
