After several years being absent from the highest professional football league in Costa Rica, the province of Guanacaste returned to the First Division as the Liberia Municipal football club was crowned champion of the Development League on Saturday night.

Liberia did not have the luxury of playing at home on Saturday; the players traveled from Guanacaste to the coastal city of Puntarenas to play the final match against the local club, which used to be owned and managed by Eduardo Li, the embattled president of the Costa Rican Football Federation who was recently arrested in Switzerland for his alleged role in the FIFA scandal.

Even though the match was played at night, the temperature was still very elevated and various players were forced to play while suffering cramps in near-dehydration conditions. Liberia did not win; the match ended 1 – 1 with goals by Rene Miranda for the visitors and Diego Chacon for Puntarenas. Still, the club from Guanacaste had previously secured goal advantage and was thus allowed to progress to the First Division.

The celebration by fans was exuberant as it moved from Puntarenas to Liberia; some revelers were still jubilant this morning and were asked to go home by Fuerza Publica officers who reminded them that families were getting ready for Sunday Mass.

Both Liberia and Puntarenas are well-organized clubs that have experience playing in the First Division of Costa Rica. One challenge that a few clubs in the Development League of Costa Rica face is that they are not ill-organized and poorly funded, two factors that considerably weigh them down when they advance to the First Divison, where they are expected to honor certain financial and scheduling commitments.

Tourism operators in Guanacaste are pleased to see a regional return to the First Division, which will allow visitors who are also football fans to attend matches played against legendary clubs such as Deportivo Saprissa, Liga Deportiva Alajuelense and Club Sport Herediano.

Source: Radio Monumental 93.5 FM