Who is Stéfano Di Carlo, River's new president

After a long election day, River has a new president. Stefano Di Carlo was elected on Saturday after winning decisively with 61.77% of the votes in an election that mobilized more than 25,000 members. At 36 years old, he became the third youngest president in the club's history, behind Leopoldo Bard and Antonio Vespucio Liberti, consolidating the continuity of the official project that for more than a decade was led by Rodolfo D’Onofrio and Jorge Brito.

His history with River, however, goes far beyond politics. The family and emotional bond with the institution runs throughout his life: he is great-grandson of Ángel Di Carlo, prosecretary during Liberti's presidency, and grandson of Osvaldo "Titi" Di Carlo, president in 1989 and an emblematic leader during the 1980s.

Stéfano literally grew up in the Monumental: he attended elementary and high school at the club's school, and accompanied his grandfather to the stadium since he was a child, even on the day his grandfather passed away in the San Martín grandstand, during a Copa Libertadores match. "At the moment he collapsed, I was by his side and caught him when he fell to the ground. It was terrible. At one point a doctor managed to revive him, but after he arrived at the clinic, he collapsed again and there was nothing more to be done," he recalled years later.

From youth activism to leadership

His first step in River Plate politics came in 2013, at the start of D’Onofrio's first term. There, he chaired the Department of Communication, Media, and Digital, and was one of the pillars in building the campaign that brought the leader to the presidency. In 2017, he again joined the official list and took office as a full member of the Board of Directors. He then became involved in the areas of Education, Systems, and Culture, and in 2018 he was appointed second vice president, after the passing of Guillermo Cascio. Since 2021 he has held the position of General Secretary, a role in which he led a deep digital transformation of the club.

One of his greatest achievements in management was the creation of the River ID system, the digital platform that allows members to buy tickets or join without in-person procedures. Under his management, the digital registry grew from 70,000 to more than 350,000 users.

He was also key in developing the new season ticket and ticketing model, which kept the Monumental full at every match, and in the stadium modernization and infrastructure projects, pillars of the current administration. His profile combines a modern vision of leadership, with a focus on innovation, efficient management, and sustainability.

Education and professional career

He holds a degree in Public Policy Management from the Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero, and Di Carlo completed executive programs related to management and public administration. In the last decade, he was also Secretary of Student Welfare at the Faculty of Economic Sciences at UBA and Director of International Relations at the Economic and Social Council of the City of Buenos Aires.

In the private sector, he chairs the IDIX group, a holding company of four businesses (ATTI, Fan Factory, Ronda 360, and Think Solutions) with about 300 employees and multimillion-dollar revenue. Among his most notable projects, he was in charge of the ticketing system for the Movistar Arena, one of the country's most important event venues.

A new era at River

With his election, Di Carlo joins a new generation of leaders. He will be accompanied by Andrés Ballotta (first vice president), Ignacio Villarroel (second vice president), Mariano Taratutty (third vice president), and Clara D’Onofrio (first board member). His term will seek to maintain the path of institutional and sporting growth, ensure the continuity of Marcelo Gallardo as head coach, and advance the Monumental Stadium roofing project, which could raise its capacity to more than 100,000 spectators.

In the words of Jorge Brito, his predecessor: "I'm convinced that after these 12 years of management, there will be another four with Stéfano Di Carlo, who not only has the qualities to be River's president, but to be a great president of River."