In the midst of the runoff campaign in Argentina, Macri turns to football

In the midst of the electoral campaign towards the second presidential round in Argentinawhich will be celebrated next Sunday and in which the former president Mauricio Macri (2015-2019) supports the libertarian Javier Mileithe leader of the center-right coalition Together for Change, focuses on football.

The founder of the Republican Proposal (Pro) party, one of the members of that alliance, appeared this Monday at a press conference at the Yatch Club in Puerto Madero (Buenos Aires) together with Andrés Ibarra, who was his Minister of Modernization both in the mayor’s office of Buenos Aires (2011-2015) and in the national government, as a formula for the elections of the Boca Juniors football club, which will take place on December 2.

Macri already presided over the Auriazul entity between 1995 and 2007 in its most glorious stage, since the club won four of its six Copa Libertadores – the highest club award at a continental level in America – and on this occasion he is presented as vice president of the formula headed by Ibarra.

Ibarra and Macri present themselves as opposition to the current administration, headed by Jorge Ameal and former soccer player Juan Román Riquelme, a true local idol, but highly criticized as a leader.

The former president was one of the great figures absent in the pre-election debate held this Sunday between Milei and the Minister of Economy and official candidate for the Presidency, Sergio Massa, although he avoided speaking out on the matter this Monday at the conference.

However, he did talk about the libertarian candidate, whom he supports in this second round after the candidate of his coalition was left out of the race as the third most voted leader.

“(Milei) He has publicly charged us with recovering the joy and like many Boca fans he wants to recover that illusion”commented Macri, who thus referred to statements made some time ago by the ultra candidate for the Casa Rosada, in which he said that he abandoned his love for the Buenos Aires club due to an excess of populism in the management of Daniel Angelici.

When asked about his connection with Milei, Macri joked that Boca already has a goalkeeper, in reference to the fact that the politician with the most votes in the primary elections on August 13 and second with the most support in the general elections on October 22 had a past like goalkeeper in the lower categories of Chacarita Juniors – today in the Second Division -.

The Together for Change coalition, of which the politician from Tandil (province of Buenos Aires) is a reference, was the big loser of the 2023 Argentine elections, in which it finished in third place and, therefore, without the option of aspiring to the second round, in which Milei and the current Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, will fight for the Argentine Presidency.

After that debacle of his training, Macri expressed his support for Milei and is campaigning in his favor with a view to the second round, which will be held on Sunday, November 19.

This support for the leader of La Libertad Avanza has generated conflict both within the ultra party, which identifies Macri with the “political caste” that its militants fight, as in the center-right coalition, since the parties that make up it – such as the Radical Civic Union or the Civic Coalition – were against that support.

The former Argentine president, who announced on March 26 that he would not run for the 2023 elections, is closely linked to the world of football, since, in addition to his past as leader of Boca Juniors, since January 2023 he has been the executive president of the FIFA Foundation.