How Juan Román Riquelme turned Boca into Alberto Fernández's Argentina

Boca is going through one of the most turbulent moments in its recent history, and not only on the field. The  lack of sporting results is mixed with an institutional scenario at a boiling point, marked by judicial complaints, media accusations, and growing discontent among members and fans.

While the team racks up matches without victories, political infighting, personal scandals, and accusations of abuse of power multiply.

At the center of the scene is Juan Román Riquelme, club president, and his closest circle. In this context, many people have begun to compare Riquelme's management at Boca with Argentina under the Kirchnerist Alberto Fernández.

The disastrous sporting management

The internal chaos at Xeneize, at least in sporting terms, is greater than people think. The club is enduring its worst football streak in decades, coaches can't sustain projects,  signings are performing below expectations, and off-field conflicts are growing relentlessly.

Internally, people speak of waste of resources, lack of transparency in spending, signings without consensus, and a growing rift between the professional squad and the management.

This situation is reminiscent of Alberto Fernández's administration, who also began his term with high expectations and ended up embroiled in scandals, mismanagement of resources, and a total loss of leadership. Both promised a "national and popular" leadership, but the result was improvisation, fierce infighting, and institutional decline.

The case of the substitution of Merentiel for Milton Giménez, which ended with a violent reaction from the Uruguayan striker and a broken window in the locker room, was just one more example of a locker room that seems to have lost control.

Román's brother, in the eye of the storm

One of the most targeted figures in the current climate of crisis is Cristian "Chanchi" Riquelme, the president's brother and one of the most influential people in the club's day-to-day operations.

His name came to the forefront after the leak of alleged chats with Vale Salcedo, an influencer and club fan, who publicly stated that  he gave her personal privileges due to his relationship with her. Among other things, she revealed free access to the club, trips, and cash payments in exchange for intimate encounters in the institution's offices. This could mean that Chanchi was misusing the institution's resources.

This is reminiscent of how Alberto Fernández managed the 2020 pandemic from the Quinta de Olivos, where numerous visits from women for unknown reasons were detected, including public figures, despite the fact that social gatherings were prohibited, or people who received positions simply for having ties with the former president.

On another front,  Paula Seminara, a club member and minority representative, filed a criminal complaint against Cristian Riquelme for threats, misogynistic insults, and physical contact during the Club World Cup in Nashville.

Just like Fernández's violence against Fabiola Yáñez, Seminara reports that Riquelme insulted her with terms such as "little whore" and touched her while she was recording with her cell phone. She also questioned the attitude of other officials present, who did not intervene and downplayed the situation.

La Cámpora, politics, and the use of the club

One of the most controversial elements of Boca's current management is the  presence of La Cámpora in various areas of the club. What began as an alliance between Riquelme and sectors of Buenos Aires Peronism is now perceived as an occupation of the institutional apparatus for purposes unrelated to football.

In this context, several journalists and officials report that the club is run like a political base, with activists occupying positions, directed signings, and a discourse that mixes partisan politics with football management.

Journalist Pablo Carrozza, for example, claimed to have received pressure and threats from sectors linked to La Cámpora (specifically mentioning someone named Carreras, related to Máximo Kirchner) after criticizing Riquelme's management.

An open ending

Meanwhile, Riquelme remains silent. His inner circle assures that "he is aware of everything" and that he will make decisions in the coming days, even within the Football Council, which until now has served as his most loyal shield.

But behind closed doors, people speak of a loss of leadership, discontent among members, and a figure who no longer generates the same consensus as in December 2019, when he first took office.

The lingering question is whether Riquelme will be able to bring order to the chaos or if he will end up being swept away by a crisis that already goes beyond sports. Recent history shows that when one governs only for the inner circle, with arrogance, lack of self-criticism, and turning a deaf ear to the fan (or the ordinary citizen), the ending is usually the same: disappointment, decline, and a management remembered more for disaster than for achievements.