On Saturday, December 4th, Club Atletico River Plate hosted one of the most heated team presidential elections in the history of the club. The two leading candidates, Daniel Passarella and Rodolfo D’Onofrio were head-to-head through the entire night. Passarella promised a renewed River with a different direction while D’Onofrio wanted to improve the current structure of the club and improve key areas. At 2AM local time, it was confirmed that Daniel Passarella became River’s newest president, defeating his rival by six votes!
Through out the rainy day in the Monumental Stadium, members of the club went to vote for the successor of Jose Maria Aguilar. Over 14,000 members turned out to vote, overcoming the record 12,000 set in 1968. In the morning, Rodolfo D’Onofrio was the candidate in the lead. He kept overcoming his rivals and it seemed that he would be taking the majority of the votes. Passarella and Caselli were tied in second place, but only one of them would eventually overtake the other. As fans nervously followed ‘La Pagina Millonaria’ through out the day, more votes were being tallied for Passarella. All of a sudden, D’Onofrio found himself in second place and his supporters were not happy.
There were many verbal confrontations between members and fans alike, all supporting their candidates. Although promoting candidates was not allowed in the polls, many fans were patiently trying to convince others outside the polls with flyers and propaganda. When the polls were finally closed, the counting begun! Passarella and D’Onofrio were head-to-head, and an unofficial result gave D’Onofrio the win. As his party celebrated, it became known that there were particular votes that had to be checked for validity, and a recount was commenced. It was at this particular moment, that the official election board gave the win to Daniel Passarella
A new direction is in turn for River; a more prosperous and enticing team to compete at all levels. The prestige of the team has to be obtained once again, Daniel’s campaign promises seem to be the formula for success. Congratulations Daniel Passarella!
