On April 27, an influencer and content creator on social networks, Santiago Maratea, moved Argentine soccer. Sitting next to Miguel Ángel Santoro, the most important goalkeeper in the history of IndependentMaratea launched a gigantic collection destined to wipe out the colossal red passive. The project was ambitious: that the thousands of members and millions of Independiente fans contributed to raise around 20 million dollars and plug financial holes that began with the presidencies of Julio Comparada (2005-2011) and Javier Cantero (2011-2014), deepened during the two periods of Hugo Moyano’s management (2014-2022) and were the reason for the rapid resignation of Fabian Doman to the position for which he had been elected at the end of 2023 at the head of a commission politically identified with Mauricio Macri and the PRO.
Some also saw the opportunity to engage in politics with the Maratea initiative. Or actually not to. They believed that it was possible to delegitimize the old leaderships and open a new stage in which the leaders would be left aside and it would be the partners and the fans who directly managed the institutions. “Leaders, know that we no longer need you,” was heard in those days in some journalistic terminals and on the networks. The play was two-way: collect to pay an almost unbearable debt and, in parallel, give air to a new personalized management model in the face of someone like Marateawith no other background in football than his status as a Red fan.
It is worth noting to review the heaviest debts that accumulate in the treasury of the Avenida Miter headquarters in Avellaneda: América de México is owed $5,700,000 for the unpaid purchase of Paraguayan striker Cecilio Domínguez and Gonzalo Verón, $4,700,000. for a much smaller debt that could have bankrupted the entity. No one is more in the club than the Uruguayan goalkeepers Martín Campaña and Sebastián Sosa, the defender Gastón Silva, the midfielders Emiliano Rigoni and Pablo Hernández and the forwards Jonathan Menéndez and Gaston Togni, whose passes were never paid for. Even Miguel Ángel Brindisi claims 50 million pesos that he could never collect for his time as coach of the team that was relegated in 2013. A real mess.
The bad campaign of the team in the current Professional League championship in which they won a match in the top 12 (2-1 against Talleres in Córdoba) and the fall to the lowest places in the table with the consequent risk of going to the decline They convinced the leaders: this liability and inhibitions had to be lifted as soon as possible to reinforce a squad set up by Doman and his vice president Néstor Grindetti with the few resources at hand and which soon exhibited its limitations on the pitch. In this context, the trust set up by Maratea appeared as the magic solution for the leaders and the fans.
In the preview of the classic against Racing and scared by the possibility of losing the category at the end of the yearthe leadership now headed by Grindetti took over from Leandro Stillitano, the coach chosen by Doman, and put the expert in his place Ricardo Zielinski, who moved some pieces, but could only win two of the seven games he led (2-0 against Belgrano and 2-1 against Tigre, both in Avellaneda). In each local match, the great red fans, fed up with the bad campaigns, likewise closed ranks around their team. But the 2-1 defeat against Arsenal in Sarandí and the 1-1 draw last Saturday against Lanús made the old boos and signs of weariness reappear.
Independiente is going through the worst 20 years of its glorious history: since 2002 it has not won a local title (the Apertura of that year), it went downhill in 2013 and the only international cup it won was the South American Cup in 2010 and 2017. Perhaps the only positive thing was the remodeling of its Ricardo Enrique Bochini Libertadores de América stadium in 2009. The rest were continuous disappointments for a fan that celebrated seven Copa Libertadores in 20 years (1964-1984) and two Intercontinental Cups in ten .
A single fact demonstrates the prevailing confusion: in the last ten years, 21 technicians have sat on the red bench, by now a veritable electric chair. Each one requested and demanded players who after six months were no longer taken into account or were relegated by the incoming coaches. In Moyano’s second presidency, several players even preferred to leave the club in exchange for the debt or in free status rather than continue enduring the ninguneo when trying to collect.
One month after the trust was opened, the collection exceeds 788 million pesos, which is equivalent to 3,160,000 dollars at the official rate and 1,600,000 dollars at the unofficial rate. The objective of raising 20 million dollars to lift the liabilities and assemble the great team that will once again be the “national pride” seems distant and even utopian. And the resolution of the General Inspectorate of Justice declaring it “irregular and ineffective” has given it a strong blow that affects its seriousness and credibility. Independiente bet on the image of Santiago Maratea to get the funds that its leaders could not procure. We will have to see how this story continues. Although many believe they know what the end will be.