The New Year is often a time that invites reflection. Far from that idea was Pablo Tovigginothe treasurer of the AFA and right-hand man of the president Claudio ‘Chiqui’ Tapiathat between grapes and toasts He charged this Wednesday harshly against Juan Sebastián Verónafter he spoke of a ‘revolution’ and ‘paradigm change’ in Argentine football due to the agreement between Students of La Platathe club he drives, and the American businessman Foster Gilletwhich revived the debate regarding the SAD and its possible emergence in the Professional League teams and promotion.
“No SIR Cold Chest!!!”began the long message through his ‘X’ account (formerly Twitter), the leader born in Rosario and from Santiago by adoption, who is usually the singing voice of the AFA against those who criticize the leadership of Chiqui Tapia, who remains aside from the controversies. Toviggino’s reference, for the unsuspecting, refers to the attitude attributed to Verón during the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, where he was the visible face of the historic elimination of the Argentine National Team in the first round.
“Sure, now I understand why you’re Miamian, You are looking for the warmth that will thaw your brain and generate a new idea to fool the Student Member !!! The Clubs belong to the Members and we do not say it, it is a principle that makes Argentine Football proud, the same one that is World Champion and Two-time Champion of America, today positioned as one of the most important sports brands in the world at a global level. Everything, without having to ask anyone for anything,” concluded the head of the Federal Council of the AFA, which brings together more than 200 Leagues in the country’s interior and is a key muscle in the political life of Argentine football.
And he continued: “It would be convenient, even advisable, that you clearly explain to the Members of the club that you preside from Miami, that the only thing you are doing is CONTRACTING A MONSTER DEBT, which you can only guarantee with the assets of the Estudiantes Civil Association. That NOT you are changing or transforming the management model of Argentine Football, You are not inventing anything either, since Foster Gillett is not, nor will he be a business partner, nor a sports leader, much less a benefactor of sporting humanity, saturated with virtues, as you intend to present him.“.
No SIR Cold Chest!!! Of course, now I understand why you are Miamian, you are looking for the warmth that will defrost your brain and generate a new idea to fool the Student Member!!! The Clubs belong to the Members and we don’t say it, it is a principle that makes the… https://t.co/YFKHC78wht
— Pablo Toviggino (@TovigginoPablo) January 1, 2025
In that sense, Toviggino described Gillet as “a creditor”, who “for the only reason, why he does not stay with the Estudiantes club, is because Argentine Football and Argentine Law DO NOT allow it.”
“There you, I continued sunbathing that you surely need it, that we reestablish and transform Argentine Football day by day between each and every one of the more than Four Thousand Civil Associations that make up AFA BY WILL AND CHOICE OF THEIR OWN PARTNERS!!! “, he concluded.
Verón’s announcement after the arrival of Cristian Medina, from Boca to Estudiantes
Estudiantes de La Plata is the team of the moment in Argentine soccer, due to sporting merits – it was champion of the League Cup and the Champions Trophy in 2024 – but especially due to some movements at the managerial level. After the million-dollar investment by North American Foster Gillet, from 1:57 they decided to pay 15 million dollars for the termination clause of the Boca footballer Christian Medina and flies over the possibility of bringing Lucas Alario from Inter de Puerto Alegre. All this movement has revived the debate regarding the SAD and its possible emergence in the local league.
First of all, La Brujita wanted to calm down the fans regarding everything that has happened lately in the entity she presides: “I think we have never failed the fans and we have always been clear. You may often like the decisions more or less. , but I think that in these years the club maintained a line of leadership.
After specifying that they are not “some crazy people who arrived now out of necessity and are going to mortgage the club,” he pointed out that what is coming is “a path of transformation of Argentine football, because it is a necessity. From that I think that is where “it cements our way of management and this transition into something new.” “It is clear that we all have some prejudices or questions, it can even make us uncomfortable, because many believe that we are going to stop being something that we are not going to stop being,” he added.
“It is something that we all have to go through together, this is not a blank check or anything like that, we are not improvised,” said Verón. And he added: “We are far from committing crazy things because, I don’t know… we want to bring in five reinforcements. We aim for the club to grow not only from football but institutionally.”
“They treat us as improvised or as a detachment towards a place that shelters us, we are not crazy, it is something that we have been working and studying, and that is what is coming for Argentine football, it is something new, a blank page , which is different from everyone. In the world you have public limited companies, there is the German system but what is coming in Argentine football is different, without precedent, and we don’t want to rush,” La Bruja continued explaining.
Martín Gorostegui, vice president of Estudiantes, touched on the Medina topic and compared his arrival with that of Enzo Pérez. “Enzo arrived free from River, and today Medina is arriving free from Boca. We are negotiating with a player who executed his clause and today is negotiating his contract with the institution. Medina’s arrival has nothing to do with the agreement with Foster “It comes to replace Enzo’s departure, and from a budgetary point of view they are similar,” the leader clarified.
Regarding Foster Gillet, Verón explained: “We found someone who comes to do a business, who sees a business as we see it in football. It will also mean something to the investor, but we don’t have to be afraid of him, because ultimately he is part of the football business. He warned that, otherwise, they continue to “do the business of those who today run the Argentine soccer association and we are left out.” In addition, he highlighted that the agreement with the businessman goes beyond football and promises to improve the club’s infrastructure.
The arrival of the investor will only occur after a meeting with the partners, scheduled for the end of February or March, while Verón and company study and diagram the details of that agreement.
Along the same lines, he assured that continuing along the same path means continuing to “feed the discourse that the club belongs to the members, and then send you to play in Santiago del Estero. They make you travel 5,000 kilometers and charge you for admission. That’s not “It’s thinking about the people, it’s thinking about their business, then once and for all we can have that possibility. That’s why all this fuss is made.”
“It doesn’t hurt me that they think badly of me, it makes me angry. Because we have been working on this for 10 years and we always said that the time was going to come when football was going to have to be ‘separated’, in quotes. I know what football is in the world and here they have always stepped on it so that it is not. We have to get rid of prejudices, and I understand that it is difficult because of everything that happened or is read. But I think that the societies or the clubs, for that matter. the name, not “They are those that fail or succeed, but those that carry them forward. It seems to me that we gave ample evidence that we know how to manage the club, and our only interest is for the club to grow,” Verón summarized.