An overview of the restructure of Argentine football following years of uncertainty

Over the past two years, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) has experienced arguably the most critical time of its centennial existence, weathering a “perfect storm” on several fronts. For international observers, the visible results were a period of more than 90 days without official football at domestic level[1] (that finally ended on the 6th March 2017) and FIFA’s intervention in the AFA, which ended with the election of the new president on March 29, 2017.

This article explains the critical issues at play during this period of instability, which included political, economic and legal factors. Specifically, this article reviews:

• The end of the “Grondona” era – a change of presidency of the AFA and FIFA’s intervention;
  
  
• The end of the “football for everyone” era and the creation of a professional league – the role of domestic broadcasting rights;
  
  
• The new political landscape – working towards a brighter future for Argentine football.