One of the biggest names in the history of Argentine football and president of Estudiantes since 2014, Juan Sebasti谩n Ver贸n 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.
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芦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鈥檛 have,禄 said Ver贸n in an interview with Bloomberg L铆nea.
Ver贸n鈥檚 comments help to 芦explain禄 Brazil鈥檚 recent dominance in the Libertadores. There will be seven consecutive titles thanks to this year鈥檚 final between Palmeiras and Flamengo.
Argentine football has only had two finalists in this period: River Plate (2019) and Boca Juniors (2023).
Ver贸n mentioned Flamengo鈥檚 signing of the Spaniard Sa煤l, the club that eliminated his Estudiantes in the quarterfinals of the current Libertadores. Only Boca and River could pursue a reinforcement of this level.
Sula and Liberta finals will have semi-automatic offside and goal-line technology
In the executive鈥檚 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.
芦Football is increasingly devalued because you鈥檙e constantly chasing money, selling more and more players, and that simply isn鈥檛 enough to compete at the highest level. You build a team and you鈥檙e 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,禄 he emphasized.
The situation of San Lorenzo, a Libertadores champion club, was also mentioned by Ver贸n.
The athletes have not received their full salaries since August. The club is going through a very delicate financial situation.
芦What鈥檚 happening with San Lorenzo cannot be happening in 2025. It鈥檚 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.禄
A product of Estudiantes, Ver贸n 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 Ram贸n 芦La Bruja禄 Ver贸n, who won the club鈥檚 other three in 1968, 1969, and 1970.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 馃嚙馃嚪 here.
馃摳 Marcos Brindicci – 2020 Getty Images
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