That you have to travel a whole day. That both teams are from AMBA and have the majority of their fans here. That Estudiantes were left without plane tickets because Vélez, who knew since Sunday that they were going to play in the final, sold them out in a few hours. That for a final more capacity was needed. The Madre de Ciudades of Santiago del Estero is the scene of a final full of complaints, which also originated in the framework of a political duel between the board of directors of one of the two clubs –Juan Sebastián Verón’s Estudiantes– and the AFA for the Government’s attempt to advance with the SAD in Argentine football.
The first thing that could be said is that the AFA’s agreements with the government of that province took precedence over a certain common sense, which indicates that the final could have been played closer and in a stadium with greater capacity. Either of the two from Avellaneda, for example.
But, strictly speaking, the complaint of some leaders and the majority of fans fades away from the moment you delve into how and when the venue for the final was chosen. Since the beginning of the year, the leadership of the 28 teams in the League Cup knew that the decisive match was going to be played in Santiago. That was confirmed when the zone phase ended and the playoffs were formed. “It is a single final and the venues are scheduled four months in advance. “We couldn’t guess who the teams that would play it would be,” they say at the Ezeiza grounds, where they remember what happened in the final of the 2019 Copa Sudamericana between Independiente del Valle and Colón: no one complained, even though the The Ecuadorian team was more than five thousand kilometers away, and the Santa Fe team was 900.
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“The Mother of Cities Stadium brings together and meets the greatest number of objectives that the League seeks with this competition format: federalization of football, use of stadiums that have the best qualities in terms of capacity, playing field, modernity in terms of lighting, sound, access and amenities for all supporters”, was the newsletter reproduced by the government of Gerardo Zamora, who positioned the province through sports, not only with this stadium, but with the meteoric rise of his clubs –Central Córdoba in Primera, Miter and Güemes in Primera Nacional– and also, for example, with the Moto GP that, until this year, was held at the Termas de Río Hondo International Circuit. Although the organization of that championship only outlined “the current circumstances in the country” as a reason, the reasons for the suspension of that race are explained in the chainsaw and blender plan that the Milei government applied to the governorates.
The adjustment, likewise, did not reach this final: although no governorate pays a fee, it must take charge of the organization and the police operation, which will involve more than a thousand troops. In AFA they highlight something: “All the proceeds go directly to the clubs: 70 to the winner and 30 to the loser. The AFA does not earn a penny with these parties,” they allege, in a shot to elevate the opposition leadership.
Although he was born in Rosario, it was in Santiago del Estero where Pablo Toviggino, the powerful treasurer of the AFA and Tapia’s right-hand man, built his range of influences in national football: he began as vice president of the very small Comercio Central Unidos, he continued with the leadership of the Santiagueña Football League and extended to presiding over the Federal Council, which includes 1,700 games per week, 223 leagues, 3,500 clubs and more square meters than those of the Catholic Church. That Santiago origin, and the close relationship between Toviggino and Zamora, also explain the scenario of today’s final.