Julio Garro, the politician chosen to manage the national sport months before Paris 2024

On January 31, Ricardo Schlieper decided to step aside. Only 23 days had passed since he had assumed the position of Undersecretary for Sport. The arrival of Daniel Scioli in Javier Milei’s government Everything 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 slammed the door.

“You know, I add from my political position,” Schlieper said to those who were immediately at his side to accompany him by virtue of his no experience in social and high-performance sports. He went to the centenary dinner of the Argentine Olympic Committee, he was at the Olympia Awards ceremony, he tried to surround himself with suitable people and that is why Diógenes de Urquiza (former sports strongman in the Macrista government) appeared as general director of the of the Entity Nacional de Alto Rendimiento Deportivo (ENARD) and Daniel Ridao leave their “exile” in Paraguay, where they spend two years as an advisor in the organization of the South American Games in Asunción first and then as an advisor to the Minister of Sports of that country, and returned to Buenos Aires to be his second.

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

With a formally headless undersecretary, Julio Garro comes in to take Schlieper’s place. 44 long days of uncertainty have passed and although throughout the period he worked in his office on the third floor of the National High Performance Sports Center, it was only this Friday, March 15, that the former mayor of La Plata, promoted by Mauricio Macri (like Schlieper), was appointed undersecretary with decree 249/2024.

Garro, who lost the last mayoral elections of La Plata to Julio Alak by just 606 votes, has no concrete connection with sport beyond having played rugby for the San Luis club and managing a branch of Boca in his city. And this is worrying considering that, for example, he could be the president of ENARD -he or Scioli should be until March next year, when the presidency will be in the hands of the head of the Argentine Olympic Committee-, moreover.

A very authoritative source from ENARD, in fact, suggested that “Garro’s arrival is very positive for us because He understands a lot about politics and management, and that’s a good thing.“. But “what will happen to sport?”, he asked Clarion. “ENARD is responsible for high performance and Ridao, who is a man with a lot of experience in the Olympics and in public service, is his right-hand man,” was the response.

That Garro delves into Mileista-Macrista’s intention for clubs to become sports clubs is no secret. Although in recent days many have compared him to Schlieper and have not looked favorably on him. “Schlieper knew a thing or two about the subject and that rings true. He doesn’t have much idea about the chaos of football. Even though he is a lawyer and a company, he must know…”, said another source who follows the daily life of this sport, Argentine for a long time.

However, that task remained for now, just wait. Although the possibility for clubs to become joint-stock companies was foreseen by the DNU, which remains in force despite the rejection voted on Thursday in the Senate, the measure also suffered a setback on a judicial level. On the same day, the Federal Chamber of San Martín confirmed the precautionary measure requested by a Jumping League to suspend the articles of the DNU related to the creation of Sports Share Companies.

Beyond this specific situation, Garro’s arrival did not please people with extensive experience in high-performance sports. “AND a consolation prize for narrowly losing the elections in La Plata. They will have him visible for a year and he will appear on the list of candidates for deputy in the legislative elections”, said someone who is still in the national sports structure. “Maybe it will be functional for Minister Guillermo Francos to play politics with the provinces because there is no lack of experience in that field. But nothing sporty. “It’s another example of the total disinterest this government has in sport,” said another who already works in the private sector.

In short, Argentina’s underfunded sport needs urgent management. There is no longer any talk about athletes’ preparation for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which will begin in four months. The point of the discussion is elsewhere. And that’s a long way from happening.