Politics and football have turned their backs on former president Mauricio Macri in 2023. At the beginning of the century, Boca Juniors was his springboard into public management. After twelve years as a successful leader of the xeneize club, he was mayor of Buenos Aires and president of Argentina (2015-2019) with the Together for Change coalition. His political alliance was left out of the presidential race in the first round, and this Sunday, the fans of the club that supported him closed the doors to him in an election with record participation. The candidacy in which Macri was running as vice president—in a formula headed by Andrés Ibarra—lost by more than 30 points against that of former striker Juan Román Riquelme: 34% versus 65%.
Macri's defeat had the magnitude of a shipwreck due to the unprecedented mobilization of the members: a total of 43,367 voted, 46% of the voters. This is the second highest participation figure in the world, after the 57,088 Barcelona members who elected Sandro Rosell as president in 2010.
With their vote, the xeneizes also expressed their forceful rejection of the proposal to privatize the clubs promoted by both Macri and the Argentine president, Javier Milei. Both defend the transformation of sports entities into public limited companies, a private capital model prohibited by law in Argentina, where clubs have operated for more than 100 years as non-profit civil companies. Macri's promise of a new stadium, which would almost double the current capacity of the current one (57,000), also did not resonate with those partners clinging to the strong identity of the Bombonera, one of the most iconic stadiums in the world.
Macri, who anticipated the adverse result, did not even show up to vote. He alleged that he had to travel to Saudi Arabia for the Club World Cup because of his role in the FIFA Foundation. Milei did attend, and he was booed and insulted by the fans present. “You put the entire caste, damn [ladrón] “adjuster,” some shouted at him when they recognized it, in reference to the harsh cut in public spending announced by the Government days ago, which foresees an increase in taxes – contrary to his campaign promises – and the price of public transport, gas and electricity. light. “Chicken,” others shouted at him, who do not forget that the current president declared in 2018 that he had been happy for River Plate's victory in the final of the Copa Libertadores played in Madrid.
The result is also a reflection of the rejection caused by the multiple judicial maneuvers with which the former Argentine president tried to postpone a vote to which he never arrived as a favorite.
The elections had initially been called for Saturday, December 2, but were postponed one day due to alleged complaints from the Jewish community for being held on Shabbat, their day of rest. Just one week before the new call, a judge issued a precautionary measure that suspended the elections due to alleged irregularities in the electoral roll and opened the door to a possible intervention. Judge Alejandra Abrevaya alleged the inclusion of 13,100 members in the Active category, which qualified them to vote. Riquelme refuted that during the Macrista administration, the members who moved to that category were 51,000.
A subsequent court ruling rejected the club's intervention and set a new date for the vote, December 17, with the condition that the 13,100 questioned members vote at separate tables. About half voted, but they did not make a difference in a sweeping victory that the polls did not predict. With it, Boca Juniors puts a stop to Macri and establishes itself as a refuge for popular and collective Argentina in the individualistic times of Milei.
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