Estudiantes president slams the standard of Argentine football 😤 | OneFootball

One of the biggest names in the history of Argentine football and president of Estudiantes since 2014, Juan Sebastián Verón did not hold back when speaking about the situation of Argentine football.

According to La Brujita, there is no possibility of competing on equal footing with the main Brazilian clubs.

"The business in Argentine football has reached its limit. You can compete with Brazilian football, but in the final stages you need capital, which is what Argentine clubs don’t have," said Verón in an interview with Bloomberg Línea.

Verón’s comments help to "explain" Brazil’s recent dominance in the Libertadores. There will be seven consecutive titles thanks to this year’s final between Palmeiras and Flamengo.

Argentine football has only had two finalists in this period: River Plate (2019) and Boca Juniors (2023).

Verón mentioned Flamengo’s signing of the Spaniard Saúl, the club that eliminated his Estudiantes in the quarterfinals of the current Libertadores. Only Boca and River could pursue a reinforcement of this level.

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In the executive’s view, the current model of local football presents structural flaws that affect most clubs, including his own.

He is one of the great enthusiasts of SADs, the Sports Joint-Stock Companies, which are equivalent to SAFs.

But the AFA, the Argentine Football Association, does not allow the existence of club-companies.

Estudiantes even signed a pre-agreement to receive 120 million dollars (R$ 698 million at the current exchange rate) from businessman Foster Gillett. But they were unable to move forward precisely because of this prohibition.

"Football is increasingly devalued because you’re constantly chasing money, selling more and more players, and that simply isn’t enough to compete at the highest level. You build a team and you’re already in debt, you work during the next year or semester to see what you have to sell, pay off debts, and keep getting into debt," he emphasized.

The situation of San Lorenzo, a Libertadores champion club, was also mentioned by Verón.

The athletes have not received their full salaries since August. The club is going through a very delicate financial situation.

"What’s happening with San Lorenzo cannot be happening in 2025. It’s not about adopting a structure as rigid as a sports joint-stock company (SAD), but rather a specific system for Argentine football, in which clubs can be financed by private capital."

A product of Estudiantes, Verón won the Argentine second division in 1994/1995 before building a career in Europe. He celebrated titles with Parma, Lazio, Inter Milan, and Manchester United before returning to his beloved club.

He made history by winning two Argentine titles and the fourth Libertadores in the history of the Pincha, the 2009 title over Cruzeiro.

Repeating his father, Juan Ramón "La Bruja" Verón, who won the club’s other three in 1968, 1969, and 1970.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.

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