Asunción (Paraguay) (AFP) - The banking crisis in Paraguay also hits football: the players' union denounces blocked salaries, the Albirroja footballers declared themselves victims and Conmebol has deposited about 13 million dollars in the intervened bank.

First modification: 06/11/2026 - 18:47

The debacle broke out on Tuesday when the Central Bank of Paraguay intervened in Ueno Bank due to solvency problems. Two days later, President Santiago Peña presented his resignation, although this was not accepted by the Senate, which is seeking an impeachment trial against him in the case.

And football? Football has not been left out of a crisis that affects half of the population of Paraguay, a nation of six million inhabitants.

The South American Football Confederation (Conmebol), based in Luque, near Asunción, has about $13 million in the bank in a fixed-term savings deposit certificate, a source from the entity explained to AFP.

The figure represents 2.3% of the income of the governing body of South American football in 2025 and "does not affect the operation of Conmebol at all," the source added.

Ueno Bank has also been sponsoring the Copa Sudamericana, organized by Conmebol, since mid-2024. The contract expires in December and will not be renewed, the source said.

"There is no major impact" on the tournament or the final of the competition, which Boca Juniors and Atlético Mineiro will play on November 21 in Colombia's Barranquilla, he assured.

Local football sponsor

The situation is different for local football, since Ueno Bank had invaded the rented premises with its brand.

"There are many players affected," said the president of Futbolistas Asociados del Paraguay, Rogelio Delgado, to the Argentine newspaper Olé.

In a few years, the bank became a sponsor of several of the most important teams in the Paraguayan first division: Olimpia, Cerro Porteño, Guaraní, Sportivo Luqueño and Rubio Ñu.

His brand was even incorporated into the names of two emblematic stadiums: Defensores del Chaco, owned by the Paraguayan Football Association, and La Nueva Olla, in Cerro Porteño.

The national team's players also raised their voices, idolized after qualifying the country for the 2026 World Cup after 16 years of absence from the biggest football event.

"We were also victims of this situation. We share the same indignation, concern and pain that affects so many compatriots," they said in a statement published on the social networks of the captain, Gustavo Gómez.

"We firmly demand that the Government and justice act immediately, transparently and without distinction (...) it is not fair, nor will we allow, that due to the actions of a few unpresentable people the name and reputation of all of Paraguay be stained," the note added.

© 2026 AFP

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