The Argentine arbitration starts with the diffusion of the audio of the VAR. Photo: Marcelo Carroll.
Despite the great expectation that has been generated around the meeting that the AFA held this Friday at noon on his property in Ezeiza, the chances of changes in tournament formats being confirmed were slim, as Clarín predicted. However, it served as a kick-off for a common goal that all the leaders led Claudio Chiqui Tapia: to make “the product” more attractive, as Argentine football tournaments call it.
It is worth clarifying: the idea of playing 20-team tournaments starting from 2023 but without the need to undergo a season of massive declines, an idea born in March and taken up by Tapia in recent days, is still alive. But this Friday was removed from the agenda at the meeting of the Lega Professionisti committee, so it will continue to be a matter of debate among football priests and a necessary protagonist, television.
The 20-team tournament, from which its format and a possible name “Top 20 LPF Tournament” emerged, could be implemented starting from 2023, but for this we will have to wait for a new meeting, with all the guests seated at the table.
Cups, TV, descents and the VAR
The meeting held in Ezeiza served to address other issues, such as the start and end dates of the calendars, which is a source of constant discussion in the environment and which this year has caused conflicts with markets and players’ contracts. .
Faced with the economic crisis that the country is going through and that is hitting football hard, the need to generate new content has also been raised. Against the backdrop of the success represented by the creation of the League Cup, the idea now aims to create a parallel competition between the league champions, something similar to what was the old South American Super Cup, which brought together the champions of the Libertadores Cup. .
And there was talk of TV, as always, a hot topic that involves interests of all kinds, especially economic ones.
The initial ten-year contract signed by ESPN and TNT to broadcast the league matches was from 2017 to 2027, but the former signed a “key” clause in exchange for a sum of money to guarantee an extension until 2030, which is the competitor has not yet defined whether it will.
The League is looking for TNT to determine if it will follow in ESPN’s footsteps or if it will finally have to go out and seek interested parties in the Argentine football television business.
Another of the strong headlines that emerged from the meeting organized by the League and with Tapia at the forefront of the speeches had to do with relegation. The lowering of the line is evident: they cannot be suspended or abolished, the one with the lowest average must play in the second category.
And a date was also set for what was a public request from all members of Argentine football, including the fans: the broadcasting of the VAR audio. Federico Beligoy, in charge of these issues, has promised that in 2023 everything will be ready to make the talks between the referees public at the time of the controversy.
All of this was discussed in Ezeiza. Everything except the possibility of getting back a 20-team tournament, a topic that however resonates between the coffee chats and the WhatsApp chats, waiting for a more formal definition.
Source: Clarin
