Argentine players appeal for calm
Players from the top four divisions of the Argentine league have renewed their threat not to play this weekend if the crowd trouble that has plagued recent Apertura matches continues.
Following a three-hour meeting on Monday with player representatives from the clubs, the Argentine players’ association (FAA) called for the Argentine Football Association (AFA) to guarantee the security of the players and to allow the return of visiting supporters to stadiums for the next round of games.
“If these two points are not accepted, the players will not be able to play during the coming weekend,” said FAA general secretary Sergio Marchi.
The AFA board are likely to meet today to discuss the requests of the players.
“Along with all of the other football directors, I want to find a way to help. Nobody wants to stop the games,” said Julio Grondona, the president of the AFA and a FIFA vice-president.
It is not the first boycott threat by the players who warned of such an action following a meeting last Friday.
The derby match between Racing Club and San Lorenzo was subsequently postponed on Sunday after Racing fans prevented players from travelling to the stadium but the rest of last weekend’s games went ahead as planned.
The decision of the players not to follow through on the boycott threat led to the resignation of the FAA’s other general secretary, Jorge Dominguez.
The main absentees from Monday’s meeting were Javier Sanguinetti of Banfield and Juan Sebastian Veron of Estudiantes.
“I did not attend because we said on Friday that we would not play during the weekend if there was any further trouble, so nobody supported the players of Racing and San Lorenzo, who could not play their match. It was a shame“, said Sanguinetti to Radio Mitre.
