By David Gold
August 2 – Argentina has dropped plans to merge their top two divisions into a 38 team national championship from 2012 after the Argentine Football Association (AFA) announced that it has “suspended consideration of the proposal”.
When the plans were made public knowledge they met with almost universal criticism from football fans, players, coaches and the media, with angry supporters even proposing a demonstration outside the AFA’s headquarters in Buenos Aires.
The plans have become public knowledge shortly after Buenos Aires giants River Plate’s shock relegation from the Premier Division.
River’s relegation shocked Argentine football, particularly as the league was set up to prevent a big team from falling into its second tier, with relegation decided over three year periods to prevent one bad season leading to a team’s demotion.
The 38 team league would have been divided into two zones of 19 teams, with the top five in each advancing to a 10 team league to determine the overall champion, with the remaining 28 battling to avoid relegation.
But the plans met with popular enthusiasm amongst Argentine clubs as it meant access to the top flight for a number of smaller teams from outside Buenos Aires and the opportunity to decentralise football in the country away from the capital, as well as ensuring more security for bigger teams fearful of following River Plate into the second division.
Accordingly, the proposals were voted through at the AFA last week with an overwhelming 22 votes.
AFA President Julio Grondona (pictured), who put forward the plans and was accused by some of doing so to curry favour with Argentine teams ahead of his Presidential re-election campaign later this year, said that the clubs themselves would initiate any future change.
“The tournament won’t change, the idea is suspended,” he said.
“I won’t call to any assembly in October, November or December, I have no interest in any change.
“It will be the clubs who should take now any further step for making any change to the tournament – changes that they had been claiming for a long time.”
The AFA Presidential election takes place in October this year, with FIFA vice-president Grondona hoping to continue his 32-year spell at the helm.
It has been a difficult few weeks for Grondona, who as well as facing criticism over the reformatting of the league has had to appoint a new national team coach, Alejandro Sabella, after Sergio Batista left in the wake of Argentina’s shock early exit from the Copa America to eventual winners Uruguay in the quarter finals, a tournament which they were hosting and expected to reach at least the final.
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