Tension surrounds Argentine football giants Boca Juniors, after the club posted a video urging fans to support the team following their narrow win over Lanús. 

The Xeneize narrowly beat Mauricio Pellegrino’s men on penalties on Saturday, but the game was marred by whistles at players and chants against the Juan Román Riquelme-led board of directors. This is the first time that Boca fans have shared their discontent in such a vocal manner in regards to Riquelme’s leadership.

As one of the seeded teams, the Xeneize hosted Lanús on Saturday at La Bombonera, as the two teams matched up in the Torneo Apertura playoffs first round. Boca arrived to the game against a backdrop of negative headlines, having recently sacked head coach Fernando Gago after a loss in the last Superclasico and elimination from the Copa Libertadores in February.

As the team struggled to assert control on the game, the crowd’s anger began with whistles for players, most notably Marcos Rojo, Tomás Belmonte and Alan Velasco.

This continued throughout the first half, but as the referee blew to call half-time, a cascade of whistle and more aggressive chanting emerged.

Players were not the only target. Expletived chants directed at the board poured down the stands as the disappointing 0-0 encounter went to penalties. This was then quickly followed by the classic “Que se vayan todos, que no quede ni uno solo (“Sack them all, out with the lot!”). 

President Juan Román Riquelme, forever a club legend in the hearts of Boca fans due to his playing exploits,  secured over 65% of the votes at the most recent election in December 2023.  Multiple-title winners Raúl Cascini, Mauricio “Chicho” Serna and Marcelo Delgado are also part of the board, but all were on the receiving end of the criticism.

The chants also sparked conflict between fans. Other sections of the stadium, most notably where Boca’s famed La 12 violent organized group attend, chanted against the seated-area fans. After the game, fans who criticized the club president on camera were called into question by others.

Riquelme, who usually cuts a collected figure, wasn’t immune to the atmosphere. As the penalty shoot-out started, a camera caught him pacing around the box where he watches the game. 

Boca interim head coach Mariano Herrón did not dodge any question of the chants and whistles at the press conference. “We understand the fans’ anger,” he said. “We need to work to improve so they’re happy, but it’s understandable that they didn’t leave satisfied.”

Criticism from former President Macri

One of the first to comment on Boca’s struggles and the atmosphere at La Bombonera was Mauricio Macri. The former president of Argentina from 2015 to 2019 was previously Xeneize president between 1995 and 2007, when Riquelme first played for the club. 

“The first thing I told everyone was that no individual was bigger than Boca,” he said on a TV show on Sunday. “Football players are football players and club employees. Nowadays, Riquelme has put himself above Boca.”

The pair have endured a turbulent relationship over the years. In 2023, Macri was the running mate to Andrés Ibarra, in a renewed presidential bid for the club. Riquelme comprehensively beat both.

On Sunday night, Boca posted a video on Instagram, with images of smiling fans, singing and dancing at the game’s build up and in the stands, and the message “¡Nosotros alentamos!” (We support the team!). Many fans have taken the clip as a response to the whistles and chants, with many comments on the publication asking for Riquelme’s resignation.

If Riquelme was to step down, it would send ripples through Argentine sport. The Boca president has been a big backer of Argentine Football Association (AFA) president Claudio Tapia inside the association. He has also backed AFA’s ongoing conflict  with Argentina president Javer Milei in their clash over the application of the private sports corporations model.