Colo Colo Has 45 Days to Pay Dario Lezcano $400,000 After FIFA Ruling

Colo Colo has 45 days to sort out a problem that had been building for months. FIFA ruled against the club and ordered it to pay $400,000 to Dario Lezcano, the Paraguayan forward who wore the white shirt between 2023 and 2024, over a breach of the contract signed when he joined the club.

Radio ADN broke the news on Thursday, and it paints a complicated picture for Blanco y Negro's finances. The whole thing dates back to last December, when Lezcano decided to sue the club over a debt he claimed had been outstanding since his arrival from Juarez of Mexico. The forward was seeking $870,000 tied to the loan of his transfer rights, an amount that was supposed to be paid in quarterly installments throughout his time at Macul.

FIFA's ruling didn't side fully with the player, but it didn't leave him empty handed either: he was awarded less than half of what he had asked for. Even so, for Colo Colo the penalty lands at a moment when any extra outflow of cash hurts, and now the clock is ticking against them.

A Deadline That Won't Wait

The club has 45 days to deposit the required amount, roughly 400 million pesos at the current exchange rate. If it fails to meet that deadline, FIFA could apply additional sanctions, something already seen in South American soccer with other clubs carrying debts to players or entities: from steeper fines to restrictions on registering new signings.

Lezcano, it's worth remembering, went through a Colo Colo stint with more highs than lows on the field, but the matter is now being settled in the courts of the sport's global governing body. The forward, who arrived hoping to be a key piece up front, ended his time at the club tangled in this contractual dispute, which is only now reaching a resolution.

For Blanco y Negro's leadership, the immediate challenge is figuring out how to cover the payment without derailing other plans in the works, whether in transfers or institutional projects. FIFA's ruling is clear and leaves little room for interpretation: there is a recognized debt and a fixed deadline to settle it.

What remains to be seen is whether the club will appeal the decision or simply proceed with payment to keep the problem from escalating. In the world of soccer, stories about debts and lawsuits tend to have extra chapters, and this one doesn't look like it will be the exception.