THE SIDELINES : Colombia Soccer Linked to Drugs

Some Colombian soccer stars have their salary supplemented by people from outside the soccer clubs, the coach of Colombia’s national team says in a new book.

Francisco Maturana, who will lead Colombia to the World Cup finals in Italy in June, did not say where the funds came from but said drug trafficking money had spread through all areas of Colombian life, including soccer.

“It had to reach football as well . . . sooner or later,” said Maturana in an excerpt from his book, to be published this week, that appeared Monday in the Bogota newspaper El Tiempo.

“A club studies its finances . . . and then makes arrangements with the players. So-and-so asks for 10 million pesos (about $20,000) and the club offers 6 million ($12,000)), which is what it can pay,” said Maturana, who also coaches Atletico Nacional of Medellin. “Then someone who is not part of the sporting organization tells the player to sign for the club for that money and he will pay the rest separately. . . . Fortunately the balance has begun to return,” he said.