The Argentine government has taken another step in its aim to allow private sports corporations — SADs for their Spanish initials — into Argentine football.

On Tuesday, Argentina’s General Judicial Inspection Board (IGJ, for its Spanish acronym) issued a regulation on two articles of Milei’s December 2023 mega-decree, which allowed private sports corporations to compete in Argentina’s top division.

Published in Tuesday’s Official Bulletin, the ruling states that the participation of nonprofit civil associations and private sports corporations must be accepted in accordance with the decree. The legislation allows for the possibility of transforming one into the other, as well as mandating to instruct “simpler steps” to register institutions that wish to invest in this market.

The ruling will go into effect on November 1, 2024.

AFA’s fight against SADs

The Argentine Football Association (AFA by its Spanish acronym) has been fighting against SADs since Milei announced his idea during the 2023 presidential campaign. 

At the time, most clubs came out against the idea. The AFA doesn’t allow its member clubs to be private corporations; according to its statutes, they can only be non-profit civil associations. The decree would make this ban illegal. 

Many Argentine clubs would also have to change their bylaws to switch to the private model. In November 2023, an AFA vote showed that an overwhelming majority of members were opposed to changing its inner rulings.

For a club to become a SAD, its members have to vote for the change with a three-quarters supermajority. But most clubs and fans have rejected the idea so far.

In legal terms, a decree is equivalent to a national law and trumps the bylaws of a specific organization. Should AFA reject the idea of making the necessary changes and allowing SADs to compete, the issue will go to court.