Independiente and their frustrated pre-season in Miami: chronicle of a business gone wrong

-Is the Air Force plane available?

-No, we must prepare for President Javier Milei to go to the Marambio base in Antarctica this Friday. If you have already paid, return the money.

This Friday, January 5, the president will travel to Antarctica in the afternoon to carry out various activities and will return on Saturday evening. Meanwhile, the Independiente team will complete another day of pre-season work at the AFA Lionel Messi stadium, in Ezeiza.

This common point between the frustrated journey of one of the greats of Argentine football and the emergencies of the presidential protocol are part of the incredible story of why Carlos Tevez’s team didn’t travel to the United States do the preliminary work at the start of the League Cup.

The ending is known. The beginning not so much. It all started in October 2022, when the Apaches headed to Rosario Central. There he met Juan Carlos Olmos, match director of the Professional League. They had a good atmosphere. Olmos is also director of the JC Eventos Deportivos Internacionales, director of the Club Inter Academy Buenos Aires project (linked to the Italian entity in Milan), secretary of the Argentine Football Coaches Association – ATFA San Isidro – and director of the Buenos Aires Cup, all according to his Linkedin profile. Thanks to his activity in international events, he has contacts in the United States with the Black & White INC. company and there an idea was born.

When Tevez still had no intention of leaving Rosario Central, Olmos offered him a pre-season in Tampa, United States, with several friendlies included. Cost to the club: zero. Everything was financed by ticket sales, sponsorships and television rights. He looked tempting. Rosario’s media also announced at the end of October 2022 that Central would do the preseason abroad. But Apache left the club due to lack of reinforcements and everything ended in nothing. They stayed in touch.

After Independiente’s good season, which managed to escape the relegation hot zone in the annual ranking, at the end of October 2023, Adrián Rouco, coach representative, have started negotiations for the renewal of the contract. In parallel, Tevez called Olmos to find out if the proposal made the previous year could be implemented now.

Tevez contacted Olmos with the Independiente management and, after several negotiations, They have decided to organize a preseason between 2 and 19 January in Miami and three friendly matches: on January 7 with Sporting Cristal, from Peru; Saturday 13th against Deportivo Cali of Colombia; and Friday 19th against Olimpia de Honduras. Without travel and accommodation costs for the club, which would negotiate the television rights which, in principle, would be broadcast by ESPN. On the other hand, the organizers’ task was to retain the income from ticket sales and sponsorship of the event.

The first warning sign was when the company Black & White Inc., warned that they could not process the visa for the soccer players that were missing. According to the club management, they took care of it and resolved the problem immediately. On the other hand, they assure that at least four players would not have been able to enter the United States due to pending criminal cases, whether their own or their family members.

From the club they also state that in mid-December The company asked him for 100 thousand dollars to pay the rental, because I couldn’t shell out the money at that time. Seeing this alarm, Néstor Grindetti and Cristian Ritondo, among others, sent someone from the club to Miami, who confirmed that the hotel and facilities existed, as well as the reservation, but it had not been paid.

On January 2, the team trained in the morning at the Villa Domínico headquarters and remained there because they would later leave for the United States. The props already had everything packed. But the flight has not been confirmed. The last attempt of the organizers was to rent the Air Force plane, operated by LADE (Líneas Aereas del Estado), which is often used by the Professional League for matches in the rest of the country, such as the final of the Trofeo dei Champions in Santiago. abroad, for the transfer of members of the organization and also of the arbitration lists. But the manager’s request arrived and in the end the trip was cancelled.

“We have decided to take legal action for breach of contract. “This is evidently an unscrupulous company that has damaged the good name of Independiente.”He told him Nestore Grindetti, club president, Clarion.

In the midst of all this there is a detail on which the club management avoids commenting. What happened to the deal with ESPN for broadcast rights? At the end of the statement, Independiente underlines “the collaboration at all times of the Argentine Football Federation and the ESPN television signal. who together with the company were resolving the repeated non-compliances of the reported company”..

Clarín attempted at least twice to get Olmos’ version but received no response. However, Sources close to the entrepreneur assure that there was a problem in the negotiations with television between the club and cable TV, that the talks did not end on good terms and that the signal finally decided not to broadcast the matches. Due to this situation, the company lost several sponsors and was unable to cover its expenses.

In between, Grindetti’s talks with Claudio Tapia, president of the AFA, not only to resolve the conflict but also to find a place to do the pre-season. A well-known hotel in Cardales has been excluded due to the poor conditions of the fields. The exit, similarly, took place through Ezeiza but not through the Ministerio Pistarini international airport. Work began on the AFA grounds and, during the break, in a nearby hotel.

The story seems “The Great Scam”. But this is not the case, because Independiente, in principle, did not give weight. He also didn’t win, just like the company and its executives. It seems, finally, a deal that didn’t go well.