Fernando Romero Nuñez 
Former Boca Juniors star Juan Román Riquelme is the club’s new president. In a drawn-out and litigious club election, he fended off rival Andrés Ibarra, who was running on a ticket with former President Mauricio Macri.
After a weeks-long saga that saw the elections suspended for alleged electoral roll irregularities, three different judges appointed and several demonstrations, the former Xeneize midfielder will be at the helm for the next four years.
With 282 tables scrutinized and three contested, Riquelme — who ran with current head Jorge Ameal as his vice — got 30,318 votes (65.3%) to the opposition’s 15,949 votes (34.4%). This makes Riquelme the president with the most votes in Argentine footballing history.
The first to declare the winner was Ibarra. “We admit our defeat because at this time, shortly before 11 p.m., all the numbers indicate that the difference of almost 30 points is irreversible,” he said from his campaign headquarters. Boca then confirmed it through its X account, celebrating Riquelme’s win: “Congratulations to the President with the most votes in the history of Argentine football.”
Voting, which was delayed due to the effects of a heavy storm in the early hours of Sunday morning, began around 9:30 a.m. Just under half of the 94,188 members eligible to vote had cast their ballots before the 6 p.m. deadline. With 43,367 voters, it was the largest election in Argentine football history and the third biggest in the world, after the 2010 and 2021 elections for FC Barcelona president — with 57,088 and 55,611 respectively.
The election turned into a tense affair early in the morning when president Javier Milei arrived at La Bombonera stadium to cast his vote, facing loud insults from onlookers on account of his association with Macri and his interest in legalizing the private sports corporations model.
In Argentina, clubs are currently required to be run as non-profit civil associations, with authorities regularly elected by their members.
The elections, originally scheduled for December 3, were postponed due to a complaint filed by the opposition. Ibarra and Macri claimed that around 13,000 members had been illegally fast-tracked to “active” status, enabling them to vote for Riquelme.
Judge Alejandra Abrevaya considered there was enough evidence to claim that “the transparency and legitimacy of the election of authorities might be in danger or, at the very least, under suspicion.” However, the Appeals Court ruled that the one-year deadline to object to the membership of the 13,000 members described in the complaint had expired. and that the suspension of the elections would require a high standard of proof that the complaint did not provide.
Thus, Riquelme became the third former Boca player to be elected president, after Luis Cerezo in 1905 and José Alfredo López in 1946.
