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Scottish Socialist asked Kelvingrove Labour Party member, Philip O'Brian, who visited Chile last summer, to write about the SFA proposal to play in Chile this season, He is
joint author of a new book on Chile. (Chile: State and Revolution, MacMillan, £4.80)
The decision by the Scottish Football Association to go ahead with the proposed match in Chile's National Stadium is an insult to working-class pcople both in Scotlind and in Chile.
Chile's National Stadium became notorious when it was used as a centre for detention and torture in the aftermath of the bloody coup which overthrew President Allende's democratically-elected government in 1973. Thousands of people were held there, including some now in exile in Scotland. The changing rooms which Scottish players will be using were jails, or torture chambers. The pitch was used by the junta's firing squads. Among the prisoners was Hugo Lepe, a member of Chile's own national team at the time and President of the Professional Footballer's Association. He hasn't played since.
Why use a football stadium? Because it is the only public place large cnough to hold the thousands of people the junta had to kill or terrorise to secure its position in power. A million people had demonstrated in Santiago in favour of the Allende government the week before. One in ten of Chile's population. Only a football stadium could cope with that kind of popular support.
Politics and football don't mix, says Willie Allan, president of the Scottish Football Association (SFA), In practice, in Chile in 1973, they did.
They still do, It used to be possible for supporters of Chile's football teams to elect their team's board of directors, providing only they were up to date with their membership fees. But not now. Today, the military cannot afford any clections. not even those exclusively concerned with football. The people of Chile have no right to elect their own representatives in any field: "democracy, according to the Chilean junta, is "an outmoded idea.
Today, the Stadium is no longer actively used as a prison. The torture centres, however, are still there, to scc, as I saw them last summer, with their windows barred, blinds drawn, and ambulances waiting outside. The possibility is still eveipresent that anyone who ever took an active part intrade union activity will "disappear" never to be seen again.
The Scottish Football players would be able to see all this too, if they were to look hard enough. Most likely, they will be too busy being feted by the junta, which, quite rightly, will sce their visit as a tremendous political and propaganda victory, a sign of international respectability.
Three and a half years ago, the ground where the players plan to score their goals echoed the screams of dying people. The SFA tour must be stopped!
PHILIP O BRIAN