There is a model of clubs organized as non-profit Civil Associations and another under the modality of Sports Corporations (SAD). And there is also Defensa y Justicia, a club in which the two modalities coexist without a single signed paper.
Depending on the point of view from which you look at it, Florencio Varela's club has in Cristian Bragarnik the figure of a football manager. From another perspective, it also has an institutional leadership that has been going on for decades, with elections subject to a statute that confirms that the club belongs to the members.
The Falcon is a reality that confirms that although SADs are not allowed, there are agreements for third-party investments. But unlike the rest of the clubs, in Defensa y Justicia the relationship is open, no one hides.
The inauguration of the "World Champions" high-performance complex on the club's premises in Bosques brought together the club's authorities, the president of the AFA Claudio Tapia and also Bragarnik in the same place.
In the front row Diego and José Lemme with Chiqui Tapia. Behind, the world champions, Bragarnik and the First Division squad: Defensa y Justicia.
The conclave came shortly after a few weeks of special effervescence around the SADs, after practically all the clubs affiliated directly or indirectly to the AFA demonstrated against the so-called "management of football".
The issue was so hot that Lionel Scaloni himself excused himself in a press conference to not answer what his position is on the matter, a gesture that was taken up by the recent candidate for president of Boca, Mauricio Macri, defender of the model that football protested against.
In this context, the least expected actor defended the model of civil associations and vindicated the capacity of Defensa y Justicia to sustain a role in the elite of Argentine soccer, obtain international titles, have world champions with roots and a high-performance center like the one inaugurated.
"We have elections like all clubs have, people can vote and we are a civil association and we show from this way that there are also ways of working in which you can grow as a civil association," he told the sports newspaper Olé.
#Inauguración | "WORLD CHAMPIONS"
COMPLEX Christian BRAGARNIK, Ricardo REZZA, Alejandro KOHAN and Nicolás DIEZ present in Bosques.
HISTORIC DAY! #DefensayJusticia #SomosVarela #SomosDefensa pic.twitter.com/VEjlxtZfeI
— PLANETA DEFENSA (@PlanetaDefensa) November 18, 2023
Bragarnik speaks in the first person, even if he is not a manager. Strictly speaking, he is a "sports advisor" to the presidency. In fact, many of the players in the squad are signed by the club and their salaries, like those of the coaching staff, are covered by a budget that is paid for by the employer.
The Falcon was a great springboard for several players over the past nine years. After achieving promotion from the Second Division to the First Division in 2014, they remained in the elite and won the 2020 Copa Sudamericana and the 2021 Cup Winners' Cup. When Defensa sells players, from their academy or from their shop window, they keep a percentage and Bragarnik, too.
"We've already started to live together. It bothers me that after so many lies they can't prove (that Defense works like a SAD) and we, with deeds and work show that in sports, we are at the level of the best," Bragarnik said, and his words could be confused with those of the president, Diego Lemme.
The businessman's sense of belonging might sound tighter if he spoke on behalf of Elche, the SAD he controls in Spain. Bragarnik and Defensa y Justicia have a relationship that they do not hide, although according to their point of view it resembles a corporation that functions in fact in a civil society.
"World Champions"
The infrastructure presented at the venue was baptized "World Champions" and synthesizes the sporting growth of the Falcon. Now the Bosques stadium has four youth courts that each bear the name of a Qatari champion who knew how to wear the Defense and Justice jersey.
Enzo Fernandez, Nahuel Molina, Guido Rodriguez and Lisandro Martinez already have a pitch to their name. With the exception of Licha, the rest of the players were present, in an event that was also attended by the aforementioned Tapia and Bragarnik.
There was the Falcón squad, which on Thursday will play the semi-final of the Copa Argentina against San Lorenzo, along with the coach, Julio Vaccari; the World Champion, but from 1986, and former coach Jorge Burruchaga.
The new site has three FIFA-approved pitches and another with reduced dimensions. It has a parking lot for 100 cars, a 3,200-square-meter building where administrative areas, a gym, locker rooms, doctors' offices, kinesiology areas, laundry and an auditorium are distributed.
Meanwhile, the property adjacent to the new one was renamed and began to bear the name of the current vice-president and former head of the club, José Lemme. "I didn't want to, to be honest, but it was decided by the Board of Directors," admitted the historic leader, who is also the father of the current president.
Now, the 4-star hotel with 27 rooms in which the first team is concentrated, which also houses the youth players in its boarding house, is no longer "Bosques", to be "the José Lemme".