When does 38+38=75? When you're dealing with the Argentine Football Association's presidential elections. In fairness, they are a bit out of practice with this new-fangled 'voting' malarkey. I've written a piece for The Bubble about the result, what it means for the AFA, and some of the challenges facing the victorious candidate - whether that turns out... Continue Reading →
Episode 89: Grondona out, various players in & Riquelme still going nowhere
Hand Of Pod is back, and Sam, Joel and English Dan welcome 2013 with a nice laid-back chat about nothing in particular. There's just the news that one of the most powerful men in world football will leave his charge of the AFA in 2015, a bunch of (admittedly often tiresome) transfer gossip from the... Continue Reading →
FIFA vice-president Julio Grondona to step down from Argentine FA presidency in 2015
Just one big story in Argentina on Tuesday, but my word, as the proverbial milkmaid said to the parson, what a big one it is. Julio Grondona, the friend of dictators and democrats, the fat, corrupt old man who has bestrode Argentine football like a behemoth and used it as his own personal piggy bank... Continue Reading →
Grondona wades in on relegation fight as Quilmes & Olimpo managers get angry
If Saturday wasn't already going to be a maddening enough day for fans of all the clubs involved in the relegation dogfight in Argentina, events on Friday made sure it would become just a little more nail-biting for fans of two clubs in particular. They were, of course, the two clubs in the fight who... Continue Reading →
Batista set to stay on as Argentina boss
Julio Grondona came as close as he's ever done yesterday to confirming that caretaker manager Sergio Batista will become Diego Maradona's successor as Argentina boss on a permanent basis after December. Talking to Radio Independencia in Tucumán, the AFA president said; 'There will have to be some very big difficulties in order for Batista not... Continue Reading →
It ain’t over til the fat man speaks…
...And Julio Grondona has spoken. As well as defending himself against Diego Maradona's accusations of lying ('Time will tell whether I lied'), he's also insisted he has no problem with Carlos Tevez's statements of last week either. He claims he'd have loved Maradona to continue as Argentina manager, has said that Sergio Batista has every... Continue Reading →
Maradona leaves…?
It's been a long day for everyone following the business behind closed doors between Julio Grondona, the AFA president, and Diego Maradona, who was expected to sign on the dotted line and put his name to a new four year contract in charge of the national side after the '5th place' (Grondona's words) finish at... Continue Reading →
Violence for export
When the Argentine national team flew to South Africa a week ago today, twenty-two barra bravas from Chacarita Juniors and Boca Juniors were on the same flight, in the economy section. The AFA denied any knowledge of this, but one of them was, in 2009, used as an AFA-approved bodyguard for one of Lionel Messi's... Continue Reading →
A question of rights and wrongs
I've had a lazy weekend writing-wise, with the last weekend before hostilities in Argentina commence again giving one final chance for a bit of a break. All the same, I was busy at the end of last week writing for Soccernet on why the Argentine league will be kicking off later than scheduled this season,... Continue Reading →
Going public
The financial stand-off which last week forced the AFA to announce that Argentina's first division championship wouldn't be able to start this coming weekend has taken a step towards concluding on Tuesday, with the news that the clubs are to break away from the TV deal signed with TyC Sports. A new financial package has... Continue Reading →
Hasta El Gol Siempre 