Florencia Marco lashed out at Juan Román Riquelme over the case with Jorge Martínez.

Former head of women's soccer press at Boca, Florencia Marco, reported that the official covered up the sexual abuse case involving Jorge Martínez, former coach of the women's team. According to Marco, the management did not ensure a violence and harassment-free environment, which led her to end her working relationship with the club. Among her conditions to return to the position after a leave, she requested to be reinstated as head of women's soccer press and a safe work environment, free from violence situations.

"Boca had a very serious failure, which is that it couldn't fulfill the duty of guaranteeing my psychophysical integrity," Marco declared in an exclusive interview with Radio Mitre last Thursday.

Additionally, she revealed: "They told me that if I didn't agree with the protocol, I could go to court. They applied the protocol in reverse, putting many other women at risk.[...]No one ever called me or asked how I was. Neither from the management, nor the president, nor the vice president."

Florencia Marco's harsh criticism against Riquelme

In her conversation with Gabriel Anello and his team, Marco explained that she tried to contact Riquelme in 2022, when she made the report, but she never managed to reach him. "Did you ask to speak with Riquelme?" they asked her. "Of course, but I never could. Everyone told me he was aware of what was happening with the coach, but he never attended to me."

Additionally, she detailed: "The general secretary, Ricardo Rosica, told me that I couldn't communicate with the president. The general manager, Sebastián Echeverría, assured that he also had no contact with Riquelme. I don't know, it seemed like he wasn't at the club. He's an inaccessible human being."

Finally, she stated: "I don't understand why I couldn't speak with the president to ask him why I wasn't being guaranteed the job category I had until the moment I filed the report."

The former head of women's soccer press called Riquelme an  "accomplice" and claimed that Jorge Martínez, the accused, touched her "butt," but continued frequenting Boca's training center in Ezeiza, known as Boca Predio. Although the women's team trains at Casa Amarilla, the proximity between both places kept the situation uncomfortable for the complainant.

Florencia Marco's departure from Boca

After the trial, Marco was summoned to return to in-person work, but when she did, her position was not respected, and she was assigned to collaborate in an internal club magazine, according to TyC Sports.  The journalist requested not to encounter those involved in the case, including Cascini, Bermúdez, Delgado, and Adriana Bravo, but the club rejected her request. Faced with this situation, she decided to consider herself dismissed, and Boca ended the employment relationship without compensation or response to her claims.

Since she filed the report, Marco was on leave: the first year with pay and the second without salary, in addition to Boca cutting off her medical coverage, forcing her to pay for her psychiatric treatment after the abuse.

The trial against Jorge Martínez

The judicial process against Martínez for simple sexual abuse began on March 22, 2024, with a sentence expected on the 25th of that month. However, the accused's lawyer attempted to challenge Judge Sergio Paduczak for alleged irregularities, which delayed the ruling. Finally, Judge Patricia Cusmanich rejected the challenge, and the trial continued.

Marco assured that, after making the report, Boca only granted her unpaid leave, while Martínez continued working until the case became public. The journalist also stated that she had reported the situation within the club on several occasions, but the management never believed her or supported her.

Finally, on April 10, 2024, Jorge Martínez was convicted of simple sexual abuse, although he received a non-custodial sentence.