Barracas Central
and
Independiente
tied 2-2 in a match corresponding to date 9 of Zone A
of the League Cup
.
That's what the statistics say but what was experienced at the Ducó stadium, where
Guapo
was home, was a hot night, full of controversies and with a scandal that includes several protagonists: one of them is
Carlos Tevez
, another is the referee
Pablo Dóvalo
, and there is a third,
Pablo Toviggino
.
It was all because of one play.
The statistics said that Barracas was doing "very well" (so to speak) with
Pablo Dóvalo
, and that he directed it quite often.
Chiqui Tapia's club had lost only 3 of 23 games in which the 47-year-old judge was "designated", both in the First Division and in the Promotion.
That number was revealed in the previous one, from Avellaneda, anticipating that any decision of the "pito" would be observed with a magnifying glass.
And so it happened.
Alexis Domínguez
went with an iron against
Iván Marcone
, and Dóvalo gave the Barracas scorer a yellow card.
The replay showed the violence of the action, and it was the VAR, managed by
Luis Lobo Medina
, who decided not to call the main referee to review it.
That omission, strange, striking, outrageous, lit the fuse of Carlos Tevez and all of Independiente.
He blew it up at the Apache.
"We knew that we were going to play against 14, I told the players in the locker room. I think this guy (Dóvalo) has to start finishing it, because it is very difficult, he shits on the work of the boys, of the club. It becomes very noticeable, which is the most worrying thing. We have been saying that Dóvalo with Barracas already has a history. It is like a stream telling you that at 3 in the afternoon it is going to come to your house and rob you, and at 3 in the afternoon he steals from you. It's crazy. They screwed us," the DT shot.
Pablo Toviggino
, the treasurer of the AFA, called him out on Twitter with several comments and hints that did nothing but add fuel to the fire that had broken out in the Huracán visiting locker room.
"As you were not so studious in the DT course (I say through the Analytical) there are surely things that you see confusing. Strange of you, while playing you committed jail fouls and they only ended in yellow!! I also did not listen to you in some previous games, which I reserve myself. Anyway, Wind Memory!!!", wrote Toviggino,
Claudio Tapia
's right-hand man and a strong man in that field that combines sport, business and national politics.
In his text, Toviggino hit Tevez in the points that hurt the former soccer player the most.
He questioned his coaching license, recalled the kick with which he fractured
Ezequiel Ham
and ended up mentioning his connection with
Mauricio Macri
to invest in wind farm projects.
But in addition to crossing Tevez, Toviggino broke a code that he had been respecting from the shadows: he became visible to everyone.
Emerging from an environment outside of football, that of horse riding, Toviggino made a name for himself in the environment from a small club in Santiago del Estero, and in partnership with Tapia he managed to extend his influence to football in the rest of the provinces first and the AFA later.
In 2020 he was appointed treasurer of the Executive Committee for the period 2021-2025, and is one of the few who not only maintains his place but expanded his power under the wing of the "Comandante", as he calls Tapia.
Pablo Toviggino and his assumption as head of the AFA normalization commission, in 2016.
His arrival at the AFA generated more appointments, he was a member of the AFA Regularization Committee, vice president of Barracas Central and president of the Federal Council.
All this at 44 years of age, without losing his position at the head of the Santiago League, a province that until a decade ago had no weight on the map of Argentine football, and that today, with strong ties with Governor Gerardo Zamora, has with teams in the first divisions and a first-class stadium in which finals and matches of the Argentine National Team are played.
The so-called Unique Mother of Cities stadium was announced in 2018, had an investment of 1.5 billion pesos and was inaugurated three years later, with a match between River and Racing.
Toviggino was the same leader, for example, who became involved in the campaign against Javier Milei in the days before the presidential runoff, in relation to the controversy with the Sports Joint Stock Companies, calling to vote for Sergio Massa.
Pointed out as the mind behind the controversial changes that altered the promotions and relegations of the Argentine soccer categories, Toviggino came to the crossroads of every leader who dared to question the organization of the tournaments, like when he hit Jorge Brito, president of River, or Sebastián Verón, from Estudiantes.
Now it was Tevez's turn.
Apache's response to Toviggino
After making catharsis and letting out all his anger against Dóvale's refereeing, Tevez found Toviggino's message and could not contain himself, although on the night of the Ducó it was questioned whether he was the one responding to the AFA treasurer.
"It seems to me that so many comings and goings to Pilar are making you lose a little, Toviggino. Apart from the collection of old and imported cars that you accumulate in Pilar, also burying the bags that you brought from Qatar and from the friendlies in China, memory Ali Baba," shook the Apache, close to nightfall.
Was it him or a fake account?
Although he has more than 200 thousand followers on Twitter, the Rojo press first warned that the account was not Carlitos', although later they had to clarify that it was his.
It is clear, in Avellaneda they sought to calm the spirits against the AFA and the crossing between Tevez and Toviggino did not help much.
At the moment there is a summit in Villa Domínico, where the Independiente team trains under the command of Carlos Tevez.
President Néstor Grindetti, accompanied by Cristian Ritondo, came to give their support to the team but also to calm down the scandal and focus on sports, which is auspicious.
El Rojo is having a good campaign, going first alongside Instituto, and on the next date they must host River in a match that could be key.
Then he will have to visit Deportivo Riestra, but that will be another story.