Argentine sport is adrift.
Like the Titanic at night avoiding, for now and only for now, the icebergs.
Argentine sport
,
at all its levels, has only progressed for a long time due to spasmodic effects and its present is not encouraging at all.
One could not be too optimistic when on the way to the last elections none of the candidates to reach the
Casa Rosada
put sport on the agenda.
Just in one spot, at the end of the road to the runoff, the official Sergio Massa made some mention almost in passing.
The rest, nothing.
That's why you couldn't expect too much from
Javier
Milei
.
It was known that the consecrated President did not have sport in the slightest as one of his priorities.
That's why he didn't miss the demotion from ministry to undersecretary either.
Ricardo Schlieper
, a former journalist and soccer players' representative who had played for Patricia Bullrich in Santa Fe but did not become a deputy, was chosen to fill that position.
On December 7, having just arrived from Europe, he met with Minister
Guillermo Francos
and the then-future Minister of the Interior offered him to be the new Undersecretary of Sports.
Between that day and January 8, when he formally took office, he went daily to his office at the
National High Performance Sports Center (CeNARD)
, he met with leaders and officials of the area and he made a pleasant impression on all of them because he was sincere to them. entrance.
Words more, words less, he told them: "You are the ones who know; I come to add from my political place."
He went to the 100th anniversary dinner of the
Argentine Olympic Committee , he was at the
Olympia Awards
ceremony
, he sought to surround himself with suitable people and that is why
Diógenes de Urquiza
(former sports strongman in the Macrista government) appeared as general director of the Entity. Nacional de Alto Rendimiento Deportivo (
ENARD
) and
Daniel Ridao
left his "exile" in Paraguay, where he spent two years as an advisor in the organization of the South American Games in Asunción first and then as an advisor to the Minister of Sports of that country, and returned to be his second.
Ricardo Schlieper lasted only 23 days in office.
Photo: The Capital
Schlieper's mission was clear and almost unique: to convince football leaders and fight for
sports corporations
, a goal of Milei and an old desire of
Mauricio Macri
.
The rest, from high performance to social sports, would be taken care of by De Urquiza, Ridao and their respective work teams.
But the arrival of
Daniel Scioli
to the Mileista army changed everything.
It was known that the former motorcyclist was planning to return to Buenos Aires and leave the Argentine embassy in Brazil.
And when the Government presented him as the new Secretary of Tourism, Environment and Sports, Schlieper decided to step aside.
It was on Wednesday when he announced it with a brief post on the social network X. He only lasted 23 days in office.
During that period
he even met with Scioli to talk about Brazilian football
.
Scioli's arrival at an old love (sports) changed the panorama.
Speculation immediately began as to who would replace Schlieper.
The rumors (all flatly false, according to Scioli's own circle) pointed to
Alejandro Rodríguez
, who led the sport in the province of Buenos Aires at the time of the Scioli government;
Jorgelina
Bertoni
, former player of the hockey team who is also the Secretary of Sports of La Matanza;
to
Adrián Verdini
, general coordinator of Sports at the National University of La Matanza and a man who comes from karate;
and several sports directors from the suburban municipalities who always had a good rapport with the former presidential candidate.
But absolutely
none of them will occupy the main office on the third floor of CeNARD
.
In Núñez they were welcomed by De Urquiza - hours before becoming a grandfather for the first time - and Ridao to learn about different aspects of ENARD management.
What is Scioli's idea?
For now, monitor everything that has to do with the area and wait for the response of who will be
Schlieper's successor
.
Will it be your man?
Definitely not.
Julio Garro with María Eugenia Vidal and Mauricio Macri, during the 2015 campaign for Cambiemos.
Photo: DYN / PRO PRESS.
Just as the man from Rosario arrived at the hands of Macri, the former President - and not Scioli - will be the one who will offer the position of Undersecretary of Sports to
Julio Garro
, who was mayor of La Plata between 2015 and 2023 and who lost the title to Julio Alak. last election by just 606 votes.
Beyond the fact that Alak and Garro have just gotten into a tough discussion - the new management assured that more than half of the 12,573 state workers in La Plata register absenteeism or have a medical record and that the salaries of those convicted of crimes are paid while the former The mayor stated that his successor is looking for “a justification” to fire 4,000 municipal officials. The truth is that
there is no link between Garro and the sport
.
And this is worrying considering that, for example, he should also be the president of ENARD.
Now, of course, we will have to see whether Garro accepts the proposal or not.
Meanwhile,
defunded and headless
Argentine sport needs urgent management.
There is no longer any talk about the preparation of athletes heading for the
Paris 2024
Olympic Games , which will begin in five months.
It is no longer even remembered that the CeNARD synthetic carpet is not adequate, it is nothing like the one that the Lions and Lionesses will find in the French capital and that is why they train in the City and in Puerto Nizuc.
And it is also not necessary to highlight that Diego Cánepa, national director of canoeing and coach of paddler Agustín Vernice - another strong candidate to obtain a medal -, got tired of the effort he has to make to carry out his training plan and is seriously thinking about leaving his charge after the Games.
"Argentine sport deserves something else," a coach who will be in Paris told Clarín yesterday.
Argentine sport and its history of resilience deserve it.