Verón slams AFA over Estudiantes threats after harsh ban | OneFootball

The president of Estudiantes, Ferro’s rival this Saturday in the Clausura quarterfinals, spoke after the AFA’s sanction against his club.

The president of Estudiantes de La Plata, Juan Sebastián Verón, spoke for the first time after the intense conflict he has with the AFA over the retroactive title that the entity awarded to Rosario Central. The executive emphasized that he has no political ambitions within the organization and issued a strong warning: “I have to stay alert because this could end in relegation.”

At Verón’s request, the Pincharrata squad decided to turn their backs on the Central players during last Sunday’s guard of honor, an action that led to sanctions: six months’ suspension for the president and punishments for the players involved.

In a conversation with Ernesto Tenembaum on Radio Con Vos, Verón asserted that the sanction was a direct response to the club’s statement. He denied that Central’s star had been voted on by the AFA’s Board of Directors and explained that only “a recognition” had been proposed, something very different from awarding an official title.

He also revealed that the surprise appearance of Rosario Central’s executives and players to receive the trophy “was already planned,” which increased his discomfort.

Verón expressed his concern about possible reprisals: “We’ll be on alert… These things can end in relegation, in bad refereeing, it’s something we’re used to,” he added.

The president maintained that distrust in refereeing is widespread and that uncertainty about VAR is constant. “The first thing we always ask is which referee we’re getting and who will be on VAR. That’s where everything is decided,” he lamented.

On the political front, Verón was categorical: “I’ve never expressed any intention nor do I have any objective to be president of the AFA. I’m not interested.”

He assured that his concern is to improve football both sportingly and socially: more resources, better championships, and the possibility for people to attend both home and away games.

He also questioned the lack of internal debate: “Who has opposed anything up to now? I stopped going because the discussions are about other things. Everything is heading where they want to take football.”

Regarding the possibility of clubs adopting the Sports Corporation model, Verón dismissed that option for Pincha. He recalled the failed experience with Foster Gillet and assured that Estudiantes will not follow that path: “What do we do with the more than 20 sports we have? Clubs can’t survive just by selling players,” he warned.

The match against Central Córdoba Looking ahead to Saturday’s match against Central Córdoba, Verón expressed some concern: “It’s going to be tough tomorrow… I mean, because it’s a very good team,” he said with a laugh.

And he finished with a phrase that again pointed to the refereeing: “I didn’t look at the assignments. You know how they kill the mystique… in a second, they kill it.”

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