A THOUSAND BULLETS

Just when he thought it was over they dragged him back in.

General Omar Actis was 51 years old when he received the dreaded call from his President. Only recently retired Actis found himself summoned to meet Jorge Videla and informed that his services would be required for one last call of duty.

It was to be his honour to head the 1978 world cup organising committee. The newly formed EAM. Videla trusted Actis's frugal nature and considered him the suitable candidate to bring the tournament in at a reasonable cost.

At first extremely proud to be handed such an important task Actis swiftly discovered that blood could not be taken from stone. He was no maker of miracles for with Argentina in the midst of a financial meltdown and inflation spiralling out of control.

Not to mention a merciless civil war raging between the authorities and left wing guerrillas, the Montoneros, whom were determined to fight to the last to achieve their aims. Actis had good reason to fear the worst.

An initial policy of attempting to keep a tight hold of the purse strings meant progress had proved painfully slow and yet Actis refused all attempts to spend sums of money they could ill afford. But he was nervous for after meeting with frustrated FIFA officials to discuss an increasingly desperate agenda of ailing budgets all had not gone well.

Actis had found himself in strong disagreement with those he felt were simply not being realistic. FIFA's insistence of building an entire new stadium at Mar del Plata and installing a new colour television system in Argentina so that their main sponsors Gillette and Coca Cola would look good on European television caused him grave concern.

So much that he planned to speak out at his first major press conference and let the world media know of his misgivings. But Actis had misjudged terribly the mood amongst the Argentine hierarchy and such an action would not only be viewed as embarrassing but also treacherous. It could never be tolerated.

General Actis knew his superiors did not take kindly to the constant reminders of financial restrictions. They whom had expected golden stadiums to spring from Argentine dust like flowers in the rain grew in murderous frustration as the months went by.

He had just two years to bring Argentina's dire facilities up to date, time was short, tempers were becoming fraught and patience was not a virtue associated with the Junta. Actis was starting to irk those to whom it was simply a question of must. The Mundial would be the most important event Argentina had ever hosted.

The eyes of the world would be upon them and he daren't fail. Jorge Videla was a man who reacted to the failure of his orders like a jackal ripping the throat of a sheep. The death squads who hunted down both real and imaginary enemies of the regime would have no qualms placing a bullet in the back of a General's head.

For after the countless killings of children, women, nuns and priest what price a mere uniform? So many years hunting with the pack, now it was Actis who felt the breath of the wolves close to his neck.

Shortly after nine am on 19th August 1976 in Wilde, a south east province of the Capital, General Omar Actis left home heading for the military headquarters of EAM. As ever he arrived early and with a little time to spare before he had to chair yet another meeting of bad news and daily disasters, Actis pulled over in his car to watch a group of youngsters kicking a ball around on a nearby waste ground.

Like most Argentineans he adored football, such a simple game yet surrounded by so many complex issues. Suddenly from an alleyway fifteen men dressed in construction overalls with their faces covered by protective helmets raced across to surround Actis's car.

Before he had time to react they all opened fire at close range with machine gun pistols cutting him to pieces. Before fleeing one of the hitmen nonchalantly placed a note around his blood-stained neck that claimed he had been executed by the Montoneros. Then swiftly as they came the assassins vanished, leaving Actis's body strewn with a thousand bullets. None had missed.

The General's worries over budgets were over, his retirement permanent.

Welcome to the 1978 World cup.

John Ludden