San Lorenzo near bankruptcy, club paralysed by contract woes | OneFootball

One of the biggest clubs in Argentina, San Lorenzo is going through an unprecedented crisis. The club needs to settle a debt by this Sunday to avoid declaring bankruptcy, and the situation appears to be worsening as the days go by. At this moment, the team is said to be completely paralyzed, according to information from the Argentine newspaper “Clarín”.

Many employees from the club's administration and treasury have already resigned from their positions. In addition, it is not possible to sign new contracts because, even though president Marcelo Moretti has authorization to sign payments, he does not have the signature of a secretary to formalize the commitments.

🔗 Instagram

The debt that could lead to bankruptcy

The situation is even more dramatic because San Lorenzo needs to raise 4.7 million dollars (about R$ 28 million) to avoid bankruptcy.

The debt that could close the doors of the Argentine club arose in 2020. At that time, San Lorenzo sold striker Adolfo Gaich to CSKA Moscow, Russia, and reportedly took out a loan to advance the transfer amount to its coffers. When the Russians paid for the player’s transfer, they allegedly chose to send the money directly to San Lorenzo, and not to the Swiss fund AIS Investment Fund, which had provided the loan to the Argentine team.

Despite having received the full amount from the deal with CSKA, San Lorenzo reportedly did not pay off the loan with the Swiss fund. In 2024, four years after the deal, the courts ordered the team to pay 3.6 million euros to the AIS Investment Fund. Now, in 2025, with interest and adjustments, the amount has reportedly reached 4.4 million euros. The information was initially reported by TyC Sports, an Argentine news channel.

San Lorenzo Stadium, Argentina – Photo: Luis ROBAYO / AFP

Turbulent backstage

After a court decision, president Marcelo Moretti was reinstated to his position after leaving the club in April. He was at the center of a leak of images from a hidden camera, which caught the president receiving a package of money without proper record in the club’s accounting.

In addition, Moretti faced many allegations of document forgery made by former directors.

After the court authorized his return, Moretti appeared at San Lorenzo’s headquarters last Monday, but was met with many insults and protests. As the number of demonstrators increased, Moretti was expelled from the premises with projectiles being thrown at him. In the end, he fled to a police vehicle.

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