Why does Passarella still think that Grondona had to do with River's descent?

The vehemence that

showed on the field, he replicated at the desk in his role as manager.

After closing his career as a footballer at

and becoming technical director, years later he was chosen by the members to preside over the club.

The experience did not end in the best way and there is a theory that claims that the

of the Núñez club was due to a heated fight between the Kaiser and the then president of the Argentine Football Association (AFA),

.

The trigger was the referee for a

.

Initially, the experienced Héctor Baldassi would be in charge of leading the game, however the afternoon before the game there was a change.

“Baldassi was injured, he stays in Córdoba.

Don't worry, Patricio Lousteau, Pichi's son, is going, ”Grondona told Passarella by phone.

The Kaiser insisted that the youth of the proposed referee was not adequate for a game of this magnitude, which was overstated by the skinny average that River had.

However, the decision was made.

Passarella notified coach

of the change and the next day, the game unfolded in the way the River president anticipated.

He considered that the referee's performance had harmed his team and believed that, beyond goalkeeper Juan Pablo Carrizo's error in Boca's first goal and Martín Palermo's header for the second,

.

And who had appointed him, even more responsible.

Protest of river plate fans in front of the AFA for the arbitration of the Superclassic PHOTO, GERMAN GARCIA ADRASTI (File)

"Two days later he had a meeting with the River's small table and said: I'm going to AFA. Nobody knew what he was going to do and he went to Viamonte, where the Executive Committee was meeting," journalist Marcelo recalled on Radio Cooperativa Nasarala, who at the time was the club's press officer.

"He entered kicking the door of the third floor where they were meeting and dispatched against Grondona, whom he held responsible for the arbitration that, according to him, had harmed the River," said Nasarala, who detailed a passage in which another leader, Germán Lerche de Colón , He tried to stop him and the world champion in 78 and 86 cut him short:

. "

After the shouting, he left the building, but he repeated to the journalists who covered the daily life of the AFA what he had said at the meeting.

After the episode,

and did not add enough points to avoid putting the category at stake.

The most memorious also point out that in this section of the competition Millo was not harmed so much but rather Olimpo

was favored , who unexpectedly got the necessary points to maintain the category avoiding playing the promotion.

For this reason, the myth indicates that the fight with Grondona was the determining factor of the relegation, consummated in the Promotion against Belgrano.

Shortly after his return to the Monumental to be honored for having won the world champion as a footballer, he was interviewed by

, where they wanted to know if he considered the president of the AFA as the relegation mentor.

Loustau expels Almeyda in the 2011 Clausura Superclásico. Photo DyN

"The witnesses of that meeting say that you told Grondona: 'You have to go, time has eaten you'. Is it true and do you suspect that this is why the River fell?" asked the journalist Hugo Balassone.

“I said that phrase, but I don't have those suspicions.

Why would I have to suspect that?" He said without mentioning Grondona, although alluding to his person. "I don't want to talk about the issue of leadership, because the person who should talk is not there."

The streak after the Superclásico

The River players, crestfallen without finding their way.

Photo DyN

There were five dates left to play.

Luck was not cast for River, although his lack of effectiveness ended up condemning him.

Of the 15 points at stake, the Millionaire added four.

After that superclassic, River tied four in a row: 1-1 with San Lorenzo, goalless against Olimpo, one with Colón and then with Estudiantes.

The last fell 1-2 against Lanús, at the Monumental.

The theory that ensures that River's relegation was due to Passarella's fight with Grondona will continue to be repeated in the soccer world.

The loss of the category is the only tangible thing.

"The only weight I have is that we went downhill with River. This story is long. It's getting used to living with the weight on top. I'm still getting used to it. I know I wasn't the culprit," closed the Kaiser in the TyC interview .

look too

Passarella broke the silence, talked about his return to the Monumental and the descent of the River: "I would understand if they don't receive me well"

Martín Demichelis and the return of Passarella to the Monumental: "The protagonists are the players"