El dorado was an era in the Colombia football league during the 1940s and early 1950s when the league broke away from FIFA

FIFA

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...

. The Colombia football league turned professional in 1948. The Dimayor

Association of Professional football Clubs of Colombia

The División Mayor del Fútbol Profesional Colombiano , also known by the truncation DIMAYOR, is an organization responsible for organizing and operating professional football leagues and tournaments in Colombia...

, the name of the league, broke away from FIFA after a dispute with the existing amateur football authority in Colombia. Therefore, all Colombian teams were suspended from playing international football. The Colombian national team

Colombia national football team

The Colombian national football team represents Colombia in international football competitions and is controlled by the Colombian Football Federation. It is a member of the CONMEBOL...

 was also under sanction. However, FIFA sanction did not hurt the breakway league. Instead, the Colombian league reached its golden era during the period. The best footballers in Latin America came to play in Colombia.

Foreign imports

The league was helped by two factors that saved them from destruction. The player strike in Argentina led to an exodus of Argentinian players into Colombia. Since the Colombian league was a FIFA affiliation, the Colombian clubs were not required to pay transfer fees under FIFA rules. Alfonso Senior, the founder of Dimayor and the chairman of Millonarios

Millonarios

Millonarios Fútbol Club is a Colombian football club based in Bogotá. As of 2011, Millonarios shares with rivals América de Cali the most Fútbol Profesional Colombiano championships, 13 in total, although Millonarios haven't won this tournament since 1988. They are also the third Colombian team to...

, saw an opportunity to give the fledgling league a boost by poaching the Argentinian league for its star players. In 1949, Millonarios

Millonarios

Millonarios Fútbol Club is a Colombian football club based in Bogotá. As of 2011, Millonarios shares with rivals América de Cali the most Fútbol Profesional Colombiano championships, 13 in total, although Millonarios haven't won this tournament since 1988. They are also the third Colombian team to...

 signed Adolfo Pedernera

Adolfo Pedernera

Adolfo Alfredo Pedernera , born in Avellaneda, Argentina, was a football player and coach. Nicknamed "El Maestro" , He is still considered by many to be one of the greatest Argentine players of all-time. He was elected the 12th best South american footballer of the 20th century in a poll by the...

, a star with the legendary River Plate

Club Atlético River Plate

Club Atlético River Plate is an Argentine sports club based in the Nuñez neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its professional football team, which currently competes in Nacional B, the second tier of Argentine football....

 team of the 1940s better known as La Máquina

La Máquina

La Máquina is a nickname given to the River Plate team of the early 1940s. The core group of la Máquina were forwards Juan Carlos Muñoz, José Manuel Moreno, Adolfo Pedernera, Ángel Labruna, and Félix Loustau...

. He joined the Millonarios on June 8, 1949. He arrived in Bogotá on June 10 and was greeted at the Aeropuerto de Techo by 5,000 fans transported by 200 cars and 25 buses. The club made 5 times more money on the day of the player's presentation than they earned on a regular league. All the clubs in Colombia realized how the star quality of Adolfo Pedernera

Adolfo Pedernera

Adolfo Alfredo Pedernera , born in Avellaneda, Argentina, was a football player and coach. Nicknamed "El Maestro" , He is still considered by many to be one of the greatest Argentine players of all-time. He was elected the 12th best South american footballer of the 20th century in a poll by the...

 generated revenue and they also started to sign players from all over Latin America. Deportivo Cali

Deportivo Cali

Asociación Deportivo Cali is a Colombian sports club based in Cali, Colombia. Mostly known for its football team, it also sponsors basketball, volleyball and swimming...

 brought in players from Peru and Argentina. Deportivo Pereira

Deportivo Pereira

Deportivo Pereira is a professional soccer team of the Colombian city of Pereira. Founded in 1944, its traditional colors are red and yellow. It plays in the Estadio Hernán Ramírez Villegas.-History:...

 brought in players from Paraguay. Independiente Medellín

Independiente Medellín

Corporación Deportiva Independiente Medellín is a professional Colombian football team competing in Fútbol Profesional Colombiano, the Colombian first division. The club is based in the city of Medellín and founded in 1913. It has won the league's national tournament known as Copa Mustang five...

 brought players in from Peru. Corporación Nuevo Cúcuta Deportivo signed 8 of the Uruguayan

Uruguay national football team

The Uruguayan national football team represents Uruguay in international association football and is controlled by the Uruguayan Football Association, the governing body for football in Uruguay. The current head coach is Óscar Tabárez...

 team that won the World Cup in 1950. Of course, Millonarios

Millonarios

Millonarios Fútbol Club is a Colombian football club based in Bogotá. As of 2011, Millonarios shares with rivals América de Cali the most Fútbol Profesional Colombiano championships, 13 in total, although Millonarios haven't won this tournament since 1988. They are also the third Colombian team to...

 went back to Argentina and brought in Alfredo Di Stefano

Alfredo Di Stéfano

Alfredo Stéfano Di Stéfano Laulhé, born into a family of Italian immigrants from Capri, is a former Argentinian footballer and coach, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time...

 and Hector Rial

Héctor Rial

José Héctor Rial Laguía was a football player from Argentina who played for Real Madrid between 1954 and 1961. He was part of the team that won five consecutive European Cups...

 who would later star for the legendary Real Madrid

Real Madrid

Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...

 team of the 1950s. Independiente Santa Fe

Independiente Santa Fe

Independiente Santafe is a professional Colombian First Division football club based in Bogotá. It has won six First Division titles and two Copa Colombia titles....

 went further by looking for players in England. They pulled off a coup by signing Neil Franklin

Neil Franklin

Cornelius 'Neil' Franklin was an English footballer.-Early career:Franklin had made a impression at schoolboy level, playing at both inside and centre forward...

 and George Mountford from Stoke

Stoke City F.C.

Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...

, and Charlie Mitten

Charlie Mitten

Charles "Charlie" Mitten was an English football player, who came through the junior ranks at Manchester United...

 from Manchester United. Again, Millonarios

Millonarios

Millonarios Fútbol Club is a Colombian football club based in Bogotá. As of 2011, Millonarios shares with rivals América de Cali the most Fútbol Profesional Colombiano championships, 13 in total, although Millonarios haven't won this tournament since 1988. They are also the third Colombian team to...

 reacted to the English signing by bringing in Billy Higgins

Billy Higgins

Billy Higgins was an American jazz drummer. He played mainly free jazz and hard bop.Higgins was born in Los Angeles, California. Higgins played on Ornette Coleman's first records, beginning in 1958...

 of Everton FC and Bobby Flavell

Bobby Flavell (Scottish footballer)

Bobby Flavell was a Scottish association football player and manager. His senior playing career, which was delayed by the Second World War, had its high point at Dundee, where he won two Scottish League Cup winners' medals in consecutive years. Flavell won two caps for the Scotland national...

 of Hearts

Heart of Midlothian F.C.

Heart of Midlothian Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Gorgie, in the west of Edinburgh. They currently play in the Scottish Premier League and are one of the two principal clubs in the city, the other being Hibernian...

. However, all of the British imports, except Charlie Mitten

Charlie Mitten

Charles "Charlie" Mitten was an English football player, who came through the junior ranks at Manchester United...

, left without finishing their contract.

Winners

Millonarios

Millonarios

Millonarios Fútbol Club is a Colombian football club based in Bogotá. As of 2011, Millonarios shares with rivals América de Cali the most Fútbol Profesional Colombiano championships, 13 in total, although Millonarios haven't won this tournament since 1988. They are also the third Colombian team to...

 would win 4 out of 5 titles between 1949 and 1953 in the era known as El dorado. Once Caldas

Once Caldas

Corporación Deportiva Once Caldas is a Colombian association football team, based in Manizales. They were the surprise winners of Copa Libertadores de América in 2004, mainly due to the performances of Juan Carlos Henao and Jhon Viáfara...

 took the other title in 1950. Millonarios

Millonarios

Millonarios Fútbol Club is a Colombian football club based in Bogotá. As of 2011, Millonarios shares with rivals América de Cali the most Fútbol Profesional Colombiano championships, 13 in total, although Millonarios haven't won this tournament since 1988. They are also the third Colombian team to...

 fielded as many as 10 Argentinians at a time during its height.

The end

The madness of El dorado began almost as soon as it started. By 1950, Alfredo Senior agreed to end the madness of El dorado. The FIFA

FIFA

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...

 allowed the Colombia to run their breakqay league for another 5 years, but the star players would return to the original clubs in 1954. In return, Alfredo Senior was elected to the FIFA

FIFA

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...

 committee and he remained there for years to come. Alfredo Di Stefano

Alfredo Di Stéfano

Alfredo Stéfano Di Stéfano Laulhé, born into a family of Italian immigrants from Capri, is a former Argentinian footballer and coach, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time...

 and Hector Rial

Héctor Rial

José Héctor Rial Laguía was a football player from Argentina who played for Real Madrid between 1954 and 1961. He was part of the team that won five consecutive European Cups...

 would move to Europe in 1953 and marked the beginning of the end for El dorado. Due to the complex situation involving Di Stefano's original club, the River Plate

Club Atlético River Plate

Club Atlético River Plate is an Argentine sports club based in the Nuñez neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its professional football team, which currently competes in Nacional B, the second tier of Argentine football....

 and Millonarios

Millonarios

Millonarios Fútbol Club is a Colombian football club based in Bogotá. As of 2011, Millonarios shares with rivals América de Cali the most Fútbol Profesional Colombiano championships, 13 in total, although Millonarios haven't won this tournament since 1988. They are also the third Colombian team to...

, and Dimayor's status as a breakaway league, the transfer of Di Stefano to La Liga led to a major conflict between Real Madrid

Real Madrid

Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...

 and FC Barcelona

FC Barcelona

Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....

.