Argentine season postponed - August 5,2009

Argentina’s Apertura tournament has been suspended indefinitely due to mounting debts at some of the country’s biggest clubs.

Comprising one half of the Argentine league season, the Apertura was scheduled to kick off on Friday, August 14 and end on Sunday, December 13. But with such high-profile debtors as Independiente, Racing and River Plate owing an estimated $13 million to the government and unable to pay players, the executive committee of the Argentina Football Association announced, Tuesday, that they were postponing the start of the season.

“The executive committee of the AFA resolved unanimously [Tuesday] that the championships in all categories should not start on the scheduled dates,” read a statement released by the AFA.

After learning about the decision, more than 100 protesters rioted outside AFA headquarters, destroying property and calling for the resignation of AFA president Julio Grondona. Meanwhile, players’ union chief Sergio Marchi expressed his regrets that the poor financial decisions of a few clubs were preventing well-run outfits such as Velez Sarsfield and Estudiantes from playing their scheduled matches.

Marchi also criticized the marketing of Argentine football, saying, “The game is poorty commercialized—it’s obsolete. There are problems of infrastructure. The bathrooms of some clubs look like Kosovo.”

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