To privatise or not to privatise? People & Power explores the ideological debate over Argentina’s most beloved sport.
The government of Argentina has placed football at the centre of the country’s ideological debate amid an economic crisis that threatens the survival of many clubs. With President Javier Milei proposing to reduce state subsidies and open clubs to private investment, football — one of the pillars of Argentinian identity — has become a battleground between opposing visions.
For Milei, this measure is necessary, while fans, club leaders and the Argentine Football Association (AFA) that have seen many young players from very small clubs become the world’s megastars, fear that these organisations could lose their social and community role or even disappear without state support.