November 18 – New Argentinian president, Javier Milei, is well known for pushing deregulation in all areas of society, and he has now turned his sights on to the most important component of Argentine identity, football.
While campaigning during his presidential run, Milei, began floating the idea of foreign ownership by looking at the Brazilian model that changed laws in 2021 to allow for-profit clubs for private investors.
While not a new model to Europe (except for Germany and it 50% +1 ownership rule), Argentinian clubs are membership driven. San Lorenzo, a more-than-century-old first division club based in the working-class Buenos Aires neighborhood of Boedo is a typical example.
Membership can be acquired for a modest 22,000 pesos ($21) a month and comes with a vote on the club’s management and tickets to local games. The club’s role as the glue that binds the community is underscored by the 300 scholarships it awards each year to young people from a nearby shantytown.
Milei, who actively supports Boca Juniors, argues that: “No-one cares who the owner is if you beat (arch-rivals) River Plate 5-0 and you win the Club World Cup.” The alternative, he said, was to “live with the misery that is Argentine football, which is deteriorating by the day.”
Boca Juniors don’t agree with their controversial fan though, saying: “Our club belongs to its people, its members, and its partners who make it greater each day.”
They also have the support of Argentine Football Association (AFA) president, Claudio Tapia, who stated t’s “not our football model.”
This battle for the soul of Argentinian club football has made its way to the courts in August with Milei using his governmental reach to order the AFA to amend its statutes to allow for-profit clubs to join. The decree was suspended by a court in September pending the outcome of a legal challenge by the AFA.
Not all clubs are like Boca though as San Lorenzo director Martin Cigna said “membership fees are not enough to cover a club’s costs”, adding that without TV rights and transfer fees his club would be running “a million-dollar deficit.”
Former Argentina international Juan Sebastian Veron, who is president of another venerable club, Estudiantes, said they were preparing for a change to a “hybrid” model that would combine a “social” role with private funding.
Milei, who loves nothing more than confrontation has vowed to investigate “irregularities” at the AFA, whose leadership he has compared to that of authoritarian Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Contact the writer of this story, Nick Webster, at moc.l1731912978labto1731912978ofdlr1731912978owedi1731912978sni@o1731912978fni1731912978