It became a habit, a bad one, but a habit in the end
.
Sudden changes in Argentine football are commonplace and hide, in most cases, political gestures by the
Executive Committee
of the Argentine Football Association and also demonstrations of power to 'mark the field'.
The latest decision of the
Federal Council
, which brings together more than
220 Leagues of the Interior of the country
, once again generated disapproval on the part of the fans, except for those who could be 'benefited' by a measure that is difficult to understand.
It is not bad that it is decided to promote a greater opportunity for sporting success to clubs, it is clarified.
But they do do it five days before the finals of the Regional Amateur Tournament are played, which instead of four promotions to Federal A (Third Division of Argentine soccer), there will be five.
That announcement was made last Tuesday when the defining matches will be played this coming Sunday, January 11.
It is not the first time this has happened -nor the last-, and it is not something that is limited to a certain category, but rather it has become a constant that was
promised to end with the management of Claudio Chiqui Tapia
, who took over as president of the AFA in March 2017. As if to limit it, we chose to review the last
five regulatory papers
since just before the Argentine National Team became world champion in Qatar 2022.
The International Super Cup in the United Arab Emirates
In June 2022, the AFA signed a four-year agreement with the Abu Dhabi Sports Council to bring the Argentine Super Cup to that location, the single-match trophy that pits the champions of the Professional League and the Argentine Cup against each other.
What happened?
Patronato had the brilliant idea of becoming champion of the Argentine Cup in 2022, eliminating none other than River and Boca in their path.
Obviously, Arab dollars were little attracted by the fact that a team from the Interior and with little history was the one that put its shield on their land.
Racing Club and its celebration in Abu Dhabi with the International Super Cup.
Photo: AP/Kamran Jebreili
Then
the International Super Cup was invented
, which was reserved for the winner of the Champions Trophy (at that time
Racing
) and the team that achieved the most points in the annual table (sum of Professional League and League Cup), which at that time almost It had also been the Academy, which opened the door to
Boca Juniors
.
The regulations for this new tournament were published on December 28, 2022 and the first edition was played on January 20, 2023.
The second champion still does not have a date (it would be after the Professional League Cup that is in progress), but there are protagonists: River Plate (first in the general table of the 2023 season and champion of the 2023 Champions Trophy) and Talleres ( second in the general table of the 2023 season).
Ah, the Argentine Super Cup between Patronato and Boca was played in March 2023 in Santiago del Estero, where Xeneize won 3 to 0 with a hat trick from Dario Benedetto.
Problems with descent? We remove one
The decrease in the number of teams in the Professional League must be one of the few things that the football world agrees on, in a country that is constantly cracked.
That 'campaign promise' of Chiqui Tapia (he was going to go down to 22 teams) was scheduled to start last season, with
three relegations
to the Primera Nacional and
two promotions
from the Second Division.
But things happened...
On
June 22, 2023,
there was an Extraordinary Assembly of AFA leaders at the Lionel Andrés Messi property in Ezeiza.
At that time, there were important teams involved in the fight for permanence such as
Independiente
,
Vélez
and
Huracán
.
Ordinary Assembly 2023 AFA
What was voted
unanimously
, with 45 of the 46 assembly members present (only Talleres de Córdoba was absent), was to eliminate one of the relegations and to lower the worst average and the one with the fewest points in the annual table to the First National .
Finally, a couple of months later,
Arsenal de Sarandí
fell due to averages and
Colón de Santa Fe
lost the category in a tiebreaker against Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata.
You, First National, too
In the image and likeness, as well as in addition, a similar situation occurred in the Second Division.
The difference was that it happened three days before a tiebreaker had to be played between
Almagro
and
San Telmo
, to determine that the loser would meet
Tristán Suárez
- the team supported by the Municipality of Ezeiza - in the promotion instance in the Primera National.
In this way, the Tricolor, the Candombero and the Lechero retained their status as participants in the Second category and expressed their satisfaction on their social networks.
According to AFA, the reason for this unexpected change on the fly had to do with the need to readjust the 2024 competition of the category with the participation of 38 teams.
"In order to readjust the format for the 2024 competition, the regulations are modified with the elimination of the third relegation, thus generating a balance with an even number of participating teams
," the mother house of Argentine football officially reported at that time.
From First C to First B, with a new level unlocked
On December 13, 2023, the Primera C tournament had already ended.
The teams were on vacation when they had to get together to celebrate.
The AFA confirmed the promotions of
Liniers
and
Sportivo Italiano
to the Third Division, due to the need in the regulations to have 22 teams in that category.
"According to Bulletin 6221 and as stipulated, the Liniers Social and Sports Club was promoted to the First Division B to complete the quota of 22 upcoming teams in the next season
," explains the statement from the governing body of Argentine soccer published minutes ago confirming the promotions.
Sportivo Italiano and Liniers, the beneficiaries of the promotions from Primera C to Primera B, post AFA tournament.
"Likewise, with Club Atlético San Miguel having achieved promotion to the Primera Nacional today, the number of teams in the category returned to 21. That is why Club Sportivo Italiano (after the others promoted from the category) is promoted to First B to complete the quota according to the general table of positions
," he concluded.
Cele received a promotion in category for having been fourth and best placed in the general table below those directly promoted (the champion Excursionistas, San Martín de Burzaco, Laferrere and Midland, who did it in the Reduced) and hours more Tano was later added (sixth in the annual, only surpassed by those already promoted), due to San Miguel's victory on penalties over Douglas Haig -in Federal A- that opened a new spot.
The Federal Amateur Tournament, the last link
The Regional Federal Amateur Tournament is in its definition stage, of the 376 teams that began playing it last year with the goal set in Federal A, the interior prelude to the First National, only eight remain in competition.
This weekend they will play the four finals to determine who will jump to the next category.
Up to this point, nothing is news.
Yes, it was the unexpected announcement within hours of the definition with the news that there will be five promoted.
Pablo Toviggino, the executive president of the AFA Federal Football Council.
The Federal Football Council, the body that brings together all the leagues affiliated from the Interior to the Argentine Football Association (AFA), decided to grant one more place for Federal A that will be played in a quadrangular with the four losers of the finals Sunday.
The protagonists will be: Deportivo Rincón vs Colón de San Justo Santa Fe (on the Estudiantes de Río Cuarto court);
Truckers - Kimberley de Mar del Plata (in Arsenal de Sarandí), Altos Hornos Zapla - Sarmiento de La Banda (Bicentennial of Catamarca) and Gutiérrez de Mendoza - Defensores de Formosa (San Francisco, Córdoba).
It was not a novelty, because last season the Regional Tournament
also modified its regulations in the decisive stage
: on that occasion instead of the
four planned promotions, there ended up being six
.
In this context, the unusual case was that of
San Martín de Mendoza
, which had lost its final but rose in category without winning since Independiente de San Cayetano, the team it had to face, was out of competition by the Disciplinary Court that punished the acts of violence of his match lost to Germinal de Rawson.
Also in the last Federal A, the Council reduced
the relegations from four to two
when the regular phase had already ended.