Scioli arrived, Schlieper was sent off and Macri chose his standard bearer but Argentine sport is still adrift

Argentine sport is adrift. Like the Titanic at night avoiding, for now and only for now, icebergs. He Argentine sport, at all its levels, has been advancing for some time only through spasmodic effects and its present is not at all encouraging. One cannot be too optimistic when on the way to the last elections none of the candidates reached the finish line Pink House put sport on the agenda. Precisely at one point, at the end of the ballot, the manager Sergio Massa made some mention almost in passing. The rest, nothing.

That’s why we couldn’t expect too much from it Javier Milei. It was known that the anointed President did not even remotely have sport among his priorities. This is also why his demotion from minister to undersecretary was not surprising.

Ricardo Schlieper, a former reporter and player representative who had played for Patricia Bullrich in Santa Fe but had not become a representative, was chosen to fill that position. On December 7, as soon as he arrived from Europe, he met the minister Guillermo Francos and the then future Interior Minister offered him to be the new Undersecretary for Sport. From that day until January 8, when he formally took office, he went to his office daily National Center for High Sports Performance (CeNARD)he met with the managers and officials in the area and made a pleasant impression on everyone because he was honest with them from the beginning.

Words more, words less, he told them: “You are the ones who know; I come to add from my political position”. He went to the centenary dinner Argentine Olympic Committeewas at the delivery of Olympia Awardshe tried to surround himself with suitable people and here’s why Diogenes of Urquiza (former sports strongman in the Macrista government) appeared as director general of the National Institute for High Performance Sports (ENARDO) AND Daniele Ridao He left his “exile” in Paraguay, where he spent two years as an advisor in the organization of the South American Games in Asunción and then as an advisor to the Minister of Sports of that country, and returned to be his second.

Schlieper’s mission was clear and almost unique: to convince football leaders and fight for them sports clubsa goal of Milei’s and an old wish Maurizio Macri. De Urquiza, Ridao and their respective work teams will take care of the rest, from high performance to social sport.

But the arrival of Daniele Scioli for the Millista hosts everything has changed. It was known that the former motorcyclist intended to return to Buenos Aires and leave the Argentine embassy in Brazil. And when the government presented him as the new minister of tourism, environment and sport, Schlieper decided to step aside. He announced it on Wednesday with a short post on the social network X. He lasted only 23 days in office. In that period until He also met Scioli to talk about Brazilian football.

Scioli’s arrival with an old (sports) love changed the landscape. Speculation immediately began as to who would replace Schlieper. The rumors (all clearly false, according to Scioli’s own circle) pointed to Alejandro Rodriguez, who led the sport in the province of Buenos Aires during the Chiolist government; TO Jorgelina Bertoni, former player of the hockey team who is also sports secretary of La Matanza; TO Adriano Verdini, general coordinator of Sport at the National University of La Matanza and a man who comes from karate; and several sports directors of suburban municipalities who have always had a good relationship with the former presidential candidate. But absolutely None of them will occupy the main office on the third floor of CeNARD.

In Núñez they were welcomed by De Urquiza – a few hours before becoming a grandfather for the first time – and by Ridao to learn about different aspects of the management of ENARD. What is Scioli’s idea? For now, monitor everything he has to do with the area and wait for the response from whoever will be there Schlieper’s successor. Will he be your man? Surely not.

Just as the rosary arrived at the hands of Macri, it will be the former president – and not Scioli – who will offer the position of undersecretary for Sport Giulio Garro, mayor of La Plata from 2015 to 2023 and who lost the last elections to Julio Alak by just 606 votes. Beyond the fact that Alak and Garro just had a tough argument, the new management ensured that more than half of La Plata’s 12,573 state employees register absenteeism or have medical records and that the salaries of those convicted of crimes are paid while the former mayor said his successor is looking for “justification” to fire 4,000 city workers – the truth is There is no connection between Garro and this sport. And this is worrying considering that, for example, he should also be the president of Enard. Now, obviously, we will have to see whether Garro will accept the proposal or not.

Meanwhile, Argentine sport fundless and headless requires urgent management. We no longer talk about the preparation of athletes destined for the Olympic Games. Paris 2024, which will begin in five months. He no longer even remembers that the CeNARD synthetic carpet is not adequate, it has nothing to do with what the Lions and Lionesses will find in the French capital and that’s why they train in the City and in Puerto Nizuc. And it is not even necessary to point out that Diego Cánepa, national director of canoeing and coach of canoeist Agustín Vernice – another strong medal candidate -, has grown tired of the effort he has to make to complete his training plan and is seriously considering to leave his post after the Games.

“Argentine sport deserves something else,” a coach who will be in Paris told Clarín yesterday. Argentine sport and its history of resilience deserve it.