BUENOS AIRES — While star Lionel Messi and his Argentine teammates close another dream year with the conquest of the two-time American championship and leaders of the 2026 World Cup qualification, president Javier Milei has declared war on the leader of the Argentine Football Association for rebelling against the government decree that enables clubs to become public limited sports companies.
The government threatened to intervene in the AFA (the initials of the federation) for alleged irregularities after the re-election of Claudio Tapia for a third term, to which the leader responded that the clubs will continue to belong to their members and not to private shareholders.
In the midst of this struggle, FIFA and CONMEBOL warned that any government interference in the management of the AFA, the entity will be disaffiliated and its teams marginalized from all competition.
WHAT DOES THE MILEI DECREE SAY?
Milei, an ultra-liberal economist who promotes a shrinking of the State in favor of the free play of the market, signed a decree in December of last year enabling football clubs organized as civil associations to transform into public limited companies. The former do not pursue a commercial purpose, while public limited companies seek profit.
The government also gave sports associations, federations and confederations a period of one year from August to modify their statutes and accept this new form of organization.
The new model is optional and clubs that want to transform into sports corporations will require the vote of 2/3 of their members present at an extraordinary assembly.
The president, who in his youth was a goalkeeper for the San Lorenzo and Chacarita training divisions, but did not make his debut in the first division, maintained that the time has come to end “poor socialism in football” and assured that thanks to the new scheme investments of 3,000 million dollars will arrive.
WHAT IS AFA’S POSITION?
The AFA affirms that its statute prohibits the affiliation and participation in its tournaments of sports corporations. At the same time, it stated that it is not obliged to comply with the presidential decree because it is suspended by court order based on a lawsuit promoted by the entity itself. The ruling was appealed by the government and the last word will be the Supreme Court.
“The clubs need to fulfill the function they fulfill as the civil associations that they are,” Tapia said days ago. “I am convinced that that is its essence. “Most clubs have an established statute that civil associations are not changed.”
If a club decides to become a public limited company, it will be disaffiliated, the AFA warned.
A SUCCESSFUL MODEL, BUT IMPERFECT?
Argentina, three-time world champion, has stood out as an inexhaustible factory of talent, from Alfredo Di Stéfano, Mario Kempes, Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi and more recently Julián Álvarez, Enzo Fernández and Alexis Mac Allister.
Despite the success in training youth players, most clubs are forced to let go of their best players at an increasingly younger age in order to support not only their professional team but also other sports and social activities that cannot be supported. self-finance.
“In Argentina in football we are 40 years behind,” said Guillermo Toffoni, FIFA agent and one of the experts in sports corporations who advise the Milei government. “It is played any day, at any time, the tournaments (formats) change, the corruption of the referees. “All this combination means that the television networks do not pay what they deserve and a vicious and non-virtuous circle is generated.”
Argentine soccer receives less than $100 million a year for television rights, far below the $8 billion shared by English Premier League clubs.
According to Toffoni, with genuine private capital investment “clubs can keep their players until they are 24, 25 years old, and sell them to the European market when it is convenient, not because they need it.”
ARE THERE CLUBS WILLING TO CHANGE THEIR MODEL?
Estudiantes La Plata and Talleres de Córdoba are the only clubs that publicly expressed themselves in favor of allowing private capital to enter football.
“I am pragmatic, I understand that football is a business. They leave us out of business, Argentina, Argentine soccer is out of business,” said the president of Estudiantes, former soccer player Juan Sebastián Verón. “Let us not be afraid of growth, of the new, which can take us to a very important place in the future.”
The former midfielder of the Argentine national team, Manchester United and Lazio recently signed a pre-agreement with the American magnate Foster Gillett, who will disburse an initial investment of 150 million dollars for professional football.
In turn, the American investor, whose father was the owner of the English Liverpool, will benefit from future sales of players, the commercial exploitation of the stadium’s name and profits from competing in international tournaments, among other sources of income.
The agreement must be endorsed by the members of “Pincha” in an extraordinary assembly.
WHY IS TAPIA’S RE-ELECTION BAD NEWS FOR MILEI?
In the midst of a dispute over sports corporations, Tapia decided to bring forward the election of new AFA authorities by one year. As the only candidate, the leader was re-elected for a third term in an assembly held on October 17.
Tapia thus ensured that he would continue in office until 2028, a year after the end of Milei’s term.
“It looks like Venezuela with (President Nicolás) Maduro brought forward Christmas,” reacted Milei, who a few days later signed a decree that took away social security benefits from the AFA.
In turn, the General Inspection of Justice (IGJ), a body dependent on the Ministry of Justice and in charge of regulating civil associations, challenged Tapia’s re-election and threatened the AFA with intervention.
However, a civil appeals court upheld the October vote.
WHAT DO FIFA AND CONMEBOL SAY?
Both entities are closely following the dispute between the AFA and the far-right president. In official notes, they indicated that only the local federation can set the statutory framework of the clubs and warned that the interference of the State is a cause for disaffiliation.
“The AFA, and only the AFA, is, in view of the legal framework of FIFA, the only entity competent to decide, through its legitimate associative governing bodies, aspects relating to the legal nature of the clubs affiliated to the same,” FIFA clarified about Milei’s decree.
Its president, Gianni Infantino, also congratulated Tapia on his re-election and thanked him for “all his efforts, work and important contribution to the development of our sport.”
