Politics and football have turned their backs on former President Mauricio Macri in 2023. At the beginning of the century, the Boca Juniors were his springboard into public administration. After twelve years as a successful leader of the Xeneize club, he served as Mayor of Buenos Aires and President of Argentina (2015-2019) with the “Together for Change” coalition. His political alliance was eliminated from the presidential race in the first round and this Sunday the fans of the club that supported him closed the doors to him in an election with record turnout. The candidacy in which Macri ran for vice president – under a formula led by Andrés Ibarra – lost by more than 30 points to that of former striker Juan Román Riquelme: 34% versus 65%.
Macri's defeat was on the scale of a shipwreck due to the unprecedented mobilization of members: a total of 43,367, 46% of voters, voted. This is the second highest participation figure in the world, after the 57,088 Barcelona members who elected Sandro Rosell as president in 2010.
With their vote, the Xeneizes also expressed their strong rejection of the club privatization proposal promoted by Macri and Argentine President Javier Milei. Both defend the conversion of sports companies into joint stock companies, a private capital model banned by law in Argentina, where clubs have operated as non-profit civil companies for more than 100 years. Macri's promise of a new stadium that would almost double the current capacity (57,000) also failed to resonate with partners who cling to the strong identity of the Bombonera, one of the world's most famous stadiums.
Macri, who had expected the negative result, did not even show up for the vote. He stated that his role in the FIFA Foundation required him to travel to Saudi Arabia for the Club World Cup. Milei was present and was booed and insulted by the fans in attendance. “You targeted the entire caste, damn it [ladrón] “Adjusters,” some shouted to him when they recognized it, alluding to the drastic cuts in public spending that the government had announced days earlier. Contrary to his election promises, this provides for an increase in taxes and prices for public transport, gasoline and electricity. Light. “Chicken,” others shouted at him, not forgetting that the incumbent president said in 2018 that he was happy about River Plate’s victory in the Copa Libertadores final in Madrid.
The result also reflects the rejection caused by the numerous legal maneuvers by which the former Argentine president tried to postpone a vote in which he was never the favorite.
The election was originally scheduled for Saturday, December 2, but was postponed by a day because the Jewish community reportedly complained that it was being held on Shabbat, their day of rest. Just a week before the new call, a judge issued a precautionary measure that suspended the election because of alleged irregularities in the voter roll, opening the door to possible intervention. Judge Alejandra Abrevaya claimed that 13,100 members were included in the “Active” category, making them eligible to vote. Riquelme refuted that 51,000 members moved into this category during the Macrista government.
A later court ruling rejected the club's intervention and set a new date for the vote, December 17th. The elections took place on the condition that the 13,100 members surveyed voted at different tables. About half did so, but they did not contribute to the victory being far more decisive than the polls had predicted. In doing so, Boca Juniors puts a stop to Macri and becomes a refuge for the collective and popular Argentina of Milei's time.