The former president of Xeneize questioned the current leadership and revealed details of his relationship with Pelusa
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The institutional and football present of Boca continues to attract criticism both inside and outside the club. In that regard, Mauricio Macri pointed directly at the management of Juan Román Riquelme and accused it of being "personalist".
"Good coaches feel that there is no institution, there is a club with personalist leadership. There is a person who believes he is more important than the club", stated the former president of the club from La Ribera in an interview for Fábrica del Podcast when he was asked why important coaches did not come to the club.
Macri also questioned the relationship with the barra and compared situations from his time in charge of the club. "Imagine, a banner comes down every day that everyone knows he asks the barra to take down. I never asked the barra to take down a banner when I had won 17 titles as president. Boca is Boca, everyone knows what it is and does it for Boca, not so that the world will bow down to him", he fired.
Meanwhile, he also recalled the example of historic leaders of the squad. "In the locker room, Boca's two idols, who were Guillermo and Palermo, were there every day at 7:45 to train. That example creates an organization for you and makes everyone have a mission regarding what has to be done", he stated.
Macri acusó de personalista a Riquelme
Toward the end, he left a broader reflection on the structure of a club: "Football teaches you that nobody wins anything alone. You need a coach, a management team, and you always need to feel that the most important thing is the institution. If someone believes he is more important than the institutional system, he destroys everything".
His conflict with Maradona
In the same conversation, the former president reviewed his relationship with Diego Maradona and defined it as "a very traumatic coexistence". He recalled the moment when the idol missed five consecutive penalties and stated that "he was in such bad shape with his addictions that the man could no longer even take a penalty".
Macri also revealed that Maradona wanted to be coach after Héctor Veira's departure in 1998. "He wanted to be coach and I told him no, because he was not in any condition", he explained. He added: "I dreamed that he would be the team's coach, but first he had to take responsibility for his little problem and solve it".
According to his account, the world champion could not sustain a professional routine. "He could not guarantee where he was going to wake up the next day. He came to one training session, but he missed four", he detailed. Despite the admiration he felt, he stated that he prioritized institutionalism: "You have to do what is right and not what is convenient, and I made sure that the rules were respected".
He also recalled a phrase that, according to what he said, Maradona himself told him: "You do not understand that I am between God and men". For Macri, that constant idolatrous treatment explained many of his attitudes.
Macri quería que se repesten las reglas pese al deseo de Maradona de dirigir Boca
Finally, he was blunt when assessing that decision: "If Maradona had been Boca's coach at that time, there would have been no possibility of winning two World Cups, Libertadores and achieving those 17 titles. That is achieved with rules". A definition that, in the current context, he is using again to question the direction that, in his view, the institution has taken.
