sábado, 27 de agosto de 2011

River starts the way of return with much help (Yahoo)


From the footballistic point of view, the Argentinean National B contest, the Second division, started with all the logic after the disputed three rounds of the thirty eight in total and though there remains a lot until the end, it is clear that River Plate the only leader and debutant in this division seems to go clearly towards the return to the First Division for the season 2012/13 with the nine points they obtained.
However, what should have been purely sportive ends not to be so because the sportive directives and the policy looked for all the possible varieties to help River to arrive to the maximum division even without having to pass through the tiresome contest of the Second, that brings a great waste due to the long trips all over Argentina and to confront teams that in many cases they are not accustomed to do.
When River descended to the Second for the first time in its hundred ten years of history, last June, its most violent followers were involved in two facts that deserved a hard disciplinary punishment on behalf of the Court of Penalties of the Argentinean Football Association (AFA), which however, gave many rounds without taking a correct decision.
River had to play a playoff vs Belgrano de Córdoba, first as guest and then, four days later, at home. In the first of the two matches and when the team were in disadvantage 2-0 and disoriented in the game field, surprisingly ten of their violent fans broke the wires of the gallery and entered into the lawn requesting the players more will to change the situation.
Nor the referee of the match, neither the police authorities nor that of the AFA suspended the match nor they have given it as a loss of River but after negotiations and waiting for a few minutes, the match started again without big varieties.
Even more nervous was the match in Buenos Aires, in Monumental stadium, the head quarters of the World Championship in 1978 and of the recent Copa América won by the Uruguayan team.
River needed to win by two goals of difference to maintain in the First Division and after the first half in which they imposed by 1-0, in the half time, as it was known afterwards, when a sport newspaper spread the images, once again their violent followers leaked by the tunnel that leads to the lockers room, passed without any problem the club’s controls and arrived up to the International referee Sergio Pezotta, whom they menaced thus to favour in the second half their team and requested at least to collect a penalty.
Pezzotta denounced it in his report, backed up by the line referees of the match and by the labour union representative, the ex referee and lawyer Guillermo Marconi, and marked a doubtful penalty for River, that at any rated was wasted by the forwarder Mariano Pavone, though it would not have served for much. The match was 1-1 but has not ended because a few minutes of the epilogue again the violent invaded and this time have broken all the club’s installations.
However, all these serious actions had no sanction for more than forty days, all the time passed between the end of the contest of the First Divisionand start of the Second, though when there was more news on what has happened in that halftime of the decisive match vs Belgrano and was known that those violent counted with the approval of a good part of River’s directives of the first line, some of which members are processed by the Justice.
Not only there was no sanction for River in that time. Meanwhile the club was transferring one of its best players, Erik Lamela, to the Roma for 12 millions Euros and with this reinforced their team looking towards the National B that was near, already resigned by the descend of category, the AFA appeared with an unexpected idea of redesigning of the contests, joining unusually First A and National B in a championship of 38 teams almost without time to prepare it as corresponds, and with several modest entities that were not in conditions, so soon, to make such expense and with not much budget and stadium without the conditions to participate in such challenge. Added to this the other big problem that appeared was the State TV that in Argentina broadcasts all the matches of the First Division, had to transmit nothing less but nineteen matches per week end and in all the hours allowing to be watched free by the fans
All this related with what occurred on August 14, the primary presidential election in Argentina and River moves millions of votes and this generated that for any measure was awaited the end of the elections though the idea of the new contest was immediately aborted because the football followers exploited in front of the help it meant for River directly avoiding its descend with something so improvised.
The AFA’s president, Julio Grondona, who at 79 years is at the point to be elected for the eighth time on next October, took note that the project of the new contest, to save River, had no popular acceptance and before a massive march that was being prepared against him at the last moment decided to abandon the measure and leave everything as it was.
As to the disciplinary measures, everything was going through the normal via, the AFA should punish River to play without public and outside their stadium for the whole season and even with discount of points as it was done in passed seasons with Nueva Chicago or Almirante Brown.
However, the mediatic and institutional power of River is so big, the quantity of votes that River represents is so strong, that the days were passing and at the start of the National B still the stadium was not suspended so it was arrived to the situation to play the first match of the Second in their own stadium, it was resolved that and with public supporting them and recently last week and two days after having played at home, it was resolved that for five matches they should play without public in another stadium.
River’s power does not end there. Four years ago, after serious incidents between Nueva Chicago and Tigre, to maintain the first category, the AFA decided to avoid new problems (in that occasion was killed Marcelo Cejas, fan of Tigre), all the contest in ascend (National B, First B, First C and First D) are played without fans of the visiting team.
All this broke in the first match that River played as a visitor in the National B, vs Independiente Rivadavia of Mendoza, when the president of this club decided to destine twelve thousands tickets for the “neutral public” (euphemism to evade the rules) to economic benefit, to defy AFA.
The consequences of this match made AFA to decide that in the National B will be accepted that the visiting fans enter, contrary to the rest of the divisions.
As Mónica Nizzardo, member of the ONG “Let’s save football”, says right this AFA’s measure “means that only for one team, River, it is possible to change everything and that the State accepts now what four years ago did not. Namely, that there is no project to avoid the violence on the stadium”.
All this River generated outside the stadium, when according with what we saw, they don´t need it.

No hay comentarios: