The Oddity that is Camilo Sanvezzo, the Vancouver Whitecaps, and the Non-Move
By Aaron Rench
I’ve been watching and following sports for quite some time, but I’ve never seen anything like what is going on with Camilo Sanvezzo and his escapade involving Mexican club Querétaro FC.
The Liga MX club has been posting tweets that give the impression that Camilo joined the team, even going so far as posting pictures of him wearing their jersey. Yet, on Monday, Caps president Bob Lenarduzzi made it profoundly clear that Camilo is under contract for the 2014 season.
“[Today’s events were] unacceptable and inappropriate,” Lenarduzzi told reporters. “We’re frustrated that it’s actually gotten to this stage. Having said all that, I think you need to take a step back from your frustration and make the best decision available to our club and also hear Camilo out.”
So now that the smoke is starting to settle, let’s take a look at all the bizarre-ness. Obviously, this story needs to be examined from three sides: Querétaro FC, the Whitecaps, and Camilo, himself.
According to reports, Querétaro FC was under the impression that Camilo’s contract ended on December 31st, but it wasn’t. The Whitecaps contract allowed for a second year option, that they picked up that option a few weeks before. What’s really strange is that the official club Twitter account posted the picture of Camilo in the new jersey. Why put that out there when you know it’s all under question already? Querétaro FC can be forgiven for the initial offer to Camilo — a top-talent goal-scorer looks to be open, why wouldn’t they make the offer? But when Vancouver responds by saying that this isn’t a possibility, the Mexican club should have stopped all talks with Camilo. This is where the problem lies in the whole situation. It continued past the point of allowable contact with the player.
Vancouver did nothing wrong in the situation in relation to Querétaro, they let in be known that Camilo was not for sale in their speech and on paper. What they did do wrong was to completely ignore their star player. Camilo wants more money, and it’s hard to argue with him; scoring the most goals in the league backs your point of view. The Whitecaps spent a large chunk of time searching for a new coach this offseason, trying to woo the like of Bob Bradley or Frank Yallop, but all the while they neglected their leading goal-scorer.
However, Camilo attempting to join a different team can not be taken lightly. Let’s put it in perspective. Imagine you have a girlfriend/boyfriend whose got most of the right traits — good looks, brains, and relatively cheap. Then all of the sudden, they realize what they’ve got going on for them and starting you to provide more gifts and time and attention, they become a high-maintenance person. You’re busy with work, having very little time to pay them the attention, and he/she decides to teach you a lesson. One night, you’re flipping through Facebook and see pictures of him/her with another person of the opposite sex!
Now what do you do? It gets awkward, tempers flare, fingers get pointed, feelings get hurt. Do you keep them around or do you send them all their way?
That is the question that Vancouver must contemplate. What happens with Camilo will effect the entire Western Conference. He has that type of talent, he’s a goal-scorer in every sense of the word: incredible goals, ugly goals, headers, weak-foot goals, just about every type of goal you could ask for.
We’ll keep our eyes and ears focused on British Columbia as we await any news about the situation. Keep it tuned to the MLS Multiplex.