The Argentine government of Javier Milei On Wednesday, the Spanish Football Federation (AFA) was ordered to modify its statutes to accept professional sports corporations (SASP), which have been banned in the league until now, in order to open up the clubs to foreign capital.
The AFA and all associations, federations and confederations have one year to adapt their regulations so that any club that becomes a public limited company can participate “in all the competitions in which it participated under its previous legal structure,” according to a decree published in the official journal.
The decree is a follow-up to another, from late 2023, in the early days of the ultra-liberal Javier Milei government, which paved the way for the transformation of Argentine football clubs into SASPs, and no longer into civil associations with a non-profit objective, as is currently the case. The current statutes of the AFA do not allow the participation in its competitions of teams that are public limited companies.
Milei, a fervent promoter of deregulation in all spheres of the economy and society, has long advocated this change of status, in the name of the freedom of clubs to open up to foreign capital and grow.
A statement that raised blisters
Referring to the Boca Juniors club, of which he is a fan, he said during the presidential campaign: “We don’t care who the owner is, if you beat River Plate 5-0 and win the Club World Cup. Or not? Do you prefer to continue living in this misery that is Argentine football, with less and less quality every day?”
It drew indignant reactions from Argentine clubs. “Club Atlético River Plate is a non-profit civil association and will always belong to its members, who are the foundation of 122 years of greatness,” said River, the flagship club and, along with Boca, the two most successful in Argentine football. “Our club belongs to its people, its members and its members who make it greater every day,” said Boca.
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In May, the clubs again expressed their opposition to SASP, when the press reported on business groups interested in acquiring certain clubs. “If we think that Argentine football will be saved by corporations, it is a total lie,” AFA chief Claudio Tapia said on Wednesday. “All they want is to be the owners and bosses of the players and the clubs.”
