In the football dimension, words can be invented that could be incorporated into the Royal Spanish Academy dictionary in the future. Just a month ago, the term “espaldazo” appeared, alluding to the failed “corridor” in honor of Rosario Central (recognized by the AFA as “champion of the annual table”).
We have already covered in this column what happened on November 23rd at the Gigante de Arroyito stadium, but we return to the topic on the occasion of the double consecration of Estudiantes de La Plata: Clausura tournament and Champions Trophy.
“Winning a star is not the same as getting it because someone thought of it. If what happened in the hallway led to something better, that would be great. I hope so. I’m not interested in politics, I’m interested in football,” the “little witch” Verón told ESPN.
After the “hallway with your back” episode, the symbolic goes far beyond the sporty. A sector does not stop disqualifying the declared “champion of the 2025 League” and ignoring the one with the highest score on a football field (66 points in 32 games).
“Fictional or desktop title” are some of the derogatory terms circulating on networks and news channels, mixed with complaints about the AFA.
And so those who support President Verón (after eleven years of surplus, the latest balance was $14,277 million in the red due to the decision not to disband the squad) already see him as an emerging leader against the system that governs the clubs, in an upward spiral, although they could well be naive.
The great coach Osvaldo Juan Zubeldía (1927-1982)
The legendary coach won trophies that shaped the history of the white-red club between 1967 and 1970:
1 local tournament (Metropolitano 1967), 3 Copa Libertadores (1968, 1969, 1970), 1 Intercontinental Cup (1968), 2 Intercontinental runners-up and 1 Interamerican Cup (1969).
Journalist Alejandro Fabbri summarizes his personality as follows: “Hard-working, detail-oriented, obsessive, mischievous, frontal, shy, hard-working to the point of exhaustion. He found and completed the formation of an extraordinary group of boys who gave Estudiantes its greatest fame in the turbulent seventies. He defeated much more powerful rivals, he enjoyed every title as if it were his last, and he faced much of the journalism of the time. There were those who.” criticized him for his style of play bordering on the permissible and also those who did not admit that a team from the capital Buenos Aires would be in the face of the usual Big Five.” His favorite line was: “Fame is not achieved through a bed of roses.”
The day after the “hallway with your back turned”
Through an action of its own motion, the AFA Disciplinary Court (Bulletin 6797 of November 27, 2025) decided by a reasoned judgment on the following sanctions (violation of Article 12 of the Disciplinary Code: OBJECTIVE BEHAVIOR AND VIOLATIONS OF THE PRINCIPLES OF FAIR PLAY):
- Six months ban from all football-related activities for the president of Estudiantes de La Plata (Juan Sebastian Verón).
- Two suspension dates for unsportsmanlike conduct (to be honored in the next official tournament, based on actual games played) for the 11 players who participated in the “back row”.
- Football player Santiago Misael Nuñez was banned from serving as captain for three months.
- The club will be fined 4,000 tickets (estimated value: US$120 million or $81,400) “for offensive behavior and violation of the principles of fair play, as the corridor in honor of the champion was denatured by collective gestures of contempt.”
- Continue the measures with respect to the remaining members of the Board of Directors of the Club Estudiantes de La Plata “to determine, if necessary, the disciplinary responsibilities incumbent on them in relation to the facts investigated.”
The basis of the judgment
- “… The sporting discipline does not ignore that clubs may disagree with organizational or regulatory decisions; however, the federal system establishes specific and institutional channels to channel questions or claims (formal presentations, appeals, communications addressed to the relevant bodies, etc.) and does not allow this disagreement to be expressed through public actions that involve the symbolic humiliation of the opponent or the denaturalization of the rites of respect that surround the competition…”
- “…The behavior analyzed here cannot be understood as a mere gesture of almost youthful rebellion against a particular decision, but as a conscious act of contempt towards the champion, which is inevitably projected onto the other twenty-nine (29) teams that make up the competition, since the title won by Club Atlético Rosario Central is the result of a complete official competition season. Symbolically ignoring this result amounts, in fact, to delegitimizing the competitive efforts of all participants, including their own own “Club Estudiantes de La Plata…”.
- “… From the defense presented itself… it appears that the decision to hold the Tribute Hall “with its back to the champion team” was taken by the president of the club, Juan Sebastián Verón, with the approval of the board and communicated to the professional team for implementation. Therefore, it is the President himself who acknowledges having issued the order that led to the conduct assessed here, which shows that it was not an improvised or isolated gesture by a player, but rather an instruction from the highest institutional authority of the Club…”
This ruling was appealed to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The opinion of the President of Rosario Central
Gonzalo Belloso said about “turning the hallway with his back”: “It was rude, it does not correspond, because the players do not have to interfere in the affairs of the leaders. There are places where you can discuss everything, even accepting mistakes if someone disagrees with the forms. Now that Central is a fair champion, I prove it with data. Central has been the best team all year and in this tournament next year there will be a champion. It is such a champion that the last champion, Estudiantes, was beaten by 24 points. A wheel of a competitive team.”
Di María’s Like
The world champion and captain of the Rosario club gave two recognizable likes to two posts on Instagram. In one of them, next to the picture of defender Leandro González Pírez shaking hands with Claudio “Chiqui” Tapia (president of the AFA) during the award ceremony after the victory over Racing, an ironic legend pointed out: “It’s not against Central, but against the AFA. They showed their worst face, and even more so against their colleagues.”
The popular “Fideo” was aware of the impact of his “likes” and shared a sentence in his stories: “In life you don’t have to give so many explanations. In the end, people only understand what they want to understand and what is best for them.”
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