As if he didn’t have enough headaches with the scandal that arose due to the “delay” in the registration of the reinforcements hired for the second half of the year, Juan Román Riquelme learned in the last few hours some news that could put him in check in the future: a very famous journalist – as much a Boca fan as he is – announced that he will join politics in an opposition role to the leadership of the “10”.
The build-up to the Copa Sudamericana play-off match between Boca and Independiente del Valle in Ecuador was completely calm when a shock threw the feeling that nothing would happen until the ball started rolling to hell. The revolution was underway again.
With some surprise, journalists specializing in sports coverage reported that the four players that Boca brought in for this part of the season (Gary Medel, Milton Giménez, Tomás Belmonte and Brian Aguirre) were not in condition to play since the club’s management, incredibly, had sent their registration after the deadline established by Conmebol. Yes, the same entity that organized the recent Copa América that Argentina won in the United States.
It seems unbelievable for a super-professional football like the current one and in times where the Internet and Google facilitate any type of procedure or enquiry, but Juan Román Riquelme and his controversial “Football Council” confused the time zones of Argentina and Paraguay -where the headquarters of Conmebol is located- and sent the “papers” 43 minutes late. The organisation added fuel to the fire with its inflexible stance and the Xeneize team had to play with a patched-up team and in a climate of scandal in Argentina.
THE FAMOUS JOURNALIST WHO JOINS BOCA’S POLITICS TO CONFRONT JUAN ROMAN RIQUELME
Mobilized by the episode, which many considered embarrassing and even “intolerable”, Juan Carlos “Toti” Pasman attacked the current Xeneize leader and in the middle of his speech, as spicy as it was merciless, he asked his colleagues from “Fútbol 910”, the program he hosts every night on Radio La Red, to be attentive because he was going to make an announcement in the form of a scoop.
Given the growing interest in the topic, Toti ended up spilling the beans. “Just now Jorge Reale called me to be part of his group. And since I agree with him on many things and since he knows my great love for Boca, I’m letting Juan Román Riquelme know that maybe very soon we’ll be seeing each other, but as rivals,” said Pasman, who then brought up Reale himself.
