Instituto de Cordoba and Argentinos Juniors were playing in 2001 the 2 legs of a play off, where the winners will play in the Primera Division, and the losers will play in the Nacional B.
Argentinos Juniors were defending their right to stay up, they have finished 17th in the relegation percentages and needed to play against Instituto de Cordoba, who had finished third on the Nacional B.
The rules give some advantage to the Primera Division clubs. In my opinion, rightly so. If you want to go up, you have to be better than them.
If at the end of the 2 play off games, the points and goal difference is the same, the Primera Division team, retains its status there.
The first game is always played at the lower division team’s ground, so we went to the Province of Cordoba to watch the first leg.
We were covering that game for different magazines and papers at the time, so we had our journalistic badges and were there for working purposes.
Instituto is a great club, where everyone knows each other closely, and few things are secrets.
They know each other that well that sometimes some people forget that around them there are others, including journalists, who are always more than happy to keep their ears to the ground.
I was covering this game from where the home directors seat. The atmosphere was relaxed, and distended.
When the home side comes out, the stadium goes mad, the typical tradition of millions of papers flying, thousands of voices were singing, and where I was, a few hundred clapping.
Then the referees come out, and from right behind me, where one of the home side directors were sitting, I clearly heard him say to his friend.
We will be ok today; Madorran (the referee) has been taken care of.
Note book came out of my pocket, and started to pay attention, more than I would have done if I have not heard that comment.
The referee was stopping the game a lot. Not his normal style I thought, but not too suspicious. Most of the small decisions were going to the home side. Again, many officials do that. A free kick here, an offside there, you know, those annoying little things. Also the yellow cards started to build up, putting a lot of the visiting players on edge.
If the referee was doing “his job”, the home side were not helping him much, as they were playing really poorly, and even with the territorial domination that the referee was giving them by stopping the game helping them gain a few metres here and there, they were creating nothing.
Then it happened. Argentinos Juniors launched an attack, and Insua stroke a beauty from outside the box. The ball hits the top corner, clearly goes in and comes out.
It was not given.
The visitors were not the same from there onwards.
Anyway, Game finished 0-0. Not ideal for Instituto, not ideal for a referee if he was “taken care of”. But then, there is a second leg. And can Madorran influence that before it is played, even if the game had ended here?
Final whistle was blown, Argentinos players were still moaning about the goal that was not given. Their Manager, Sergio “Checho” Batista, was being restrained by police and his assistants.
Madorran lost it, started running around the pitch like a mad man. He red carded one Argentinos player, meaning he would miss the second leg. Later in the dressing room he would show the red card to another 3 players from Argentinos Juniors.
So with 4 missing players from the second leg, what it couldn’t be done on the pitch…. (Clip of this game is seventh from the top of the clips page on this website)
To Argentinos luck, they had a few players that had been called for one of the under 17 National Team, and all 4 players that were sent off, were allowed to play on the second leg. That game ended 1-1, and they retained top flight status.
Madorran’s officiating of that first leg, was not blatant (until all the sending offs at the end of it) The goal that was not given, it was not impossible to believe that was missed by him, the way he was stopping the game letting home side gain territorial advantage is not something not seen before either, but, with Javier Ruiz (referee we heard about in part 2) words in mind now 10 years later
“if a referee wants, a team does not cross the centre circle”, we are a bit more sceptic now. And having watched the game over and over again, were still left with doubts.
However the 4 sending offs were incredible, and unnecessary.
Unfortunately Madorran has committed suicide since then, so we could not speak to him to clarify or ask about the subject.
When the word was out that Madorran may be corrupt, football needed to do something.
1) Investigate, show transparency and communicate results of investigations?
I am afraid that is not Grondona’s style.
2) Publicly deny any involvement of the referee in question, shut shop, and deal with it internally with integrity?
I am afraid not Grondona’s style either
3) Ah off course, let’s pretend that nothing has happened, but at the same time start a smear campaign (obviously not from inside AFA) towards Madorran.
Probably there is nothing worse inside the football world that sexual tendency prejudice.
So suddenly it became “common knowledge” that Madorran was gay, which he was not (not that should have any importance, anyway).
The concept of homosexuality in football is very taboo everywhere.
Fans started singing offensive songs towards him, players making same kind of comments.
He went to his union and AFA to seek help and support, and they gave him none, he was given less games to officiate in, therefore less income, more pressure.
And then one day, he killed himself.
Part 6 tomorrow, is the last part. As we did an introduction in part one. We will do a conclusion on part 6.
Argentinos Juniors were defending their right to stay up, they have finished 17th in the relegation percentages and needed to play against Instituto de Cordoba, who had finished third on the Nacional B.
The rules give some advantage to the Primera Division clubs. In my opinion, rightly so. If you want to go up, you have to be better than them.
If at the end of the 2 play off games, the points and goal difference is the same, the Primera Division team, retains its status there.
The first game is always played at the lower division team’s ground, so we went to the Province of Cordoba to watch the first leg.
We were covering that game for different magazines and papers at the time, so we had our journalistic badges and were there for working purposes.
Instituto is a great club, where everyone knows each other closely, and few things are secrets.
They know each other that well that sometimes some people forget that around them there are others, including journalists, who are always more than happy to keep their ears to the ground.
I was covering this game from where the home directors seat. The atmosphere was relaxed, and distended.
When the home side comes out, the stadium goes mad, the typical tradition of millions of papers flying, thousands of voices were singing, and where I was, a few hundred clapping.
Then the referees come out, and from right behind me, where one of the home side directors were sitting, I clearly heard him say to his friend.
We will be ok today; Madorran (the referee) has been taken care of.
Note book came out of my pocket, and started to pay attention, more than I would have done if I have not heard that comment.
The referee was stopping the game a lot. Not his normal style I thought, but not too suspicious. Most of the small decisions were going to the home side. Again, many officials do that. A free kick here, an offside there, you know, those annoying little things. Also the yellow cards started to build up, putting a lot of the visiting players on edge.
If the referee was doing “his job”, the home side were not helping him much, as they were playing really poorly, and even with the territorial domination that the referee was giving them by stopping the game helping them gain a few metres here and there, they were creating nothing.
Then it happened. Argentinos Juniors launched an attack, and Insua stroke a beauty from outside the box. The ball hits the top corner, clearly goes in and comes out.
It was not given.
The visitors were not the same from there onwards.
Anyway, Game finished 0-0. Not ideal for Instituto, not ideal for a referee if he was “taken care of”. But then, there is a second leg. And can Madorran influence that before it is played, even if the game had ended here?
Final whistle was blown, Argentinos players were still moaning about the goal that was not given. Their Manager, Sergio “Checho” Batista, was being restrained by police and his assistants.
Madorran lost it, started running around the pitch like a mad man. He red carded one Argentinos player, meaning he would miss the second leg. Later in the dressing room he would show the red card to another 3 players from Argentinos Juniors.
So with 4 missing players from the second leg, what it couldn’t be done on the pitch…. (Clip of this game is seventh from the top of the clips page on this website)
To Argentinos luck, they had a few players that had been called for one of the under 17 National Team, and all 4 players that were sent off, were allowed to play on the second leg. That game ended 1-1, and they retained top flight status.
Madorran’s officiating of that first leg, was not blatant (until all the sending offs at the end of it) The goal that was not given, it was not impossible to believe that was missed by him, the way he was stopping the game letting home side gain territorial advantage is not something not seen before either, but, with Javier Ruiz (referee we heard about in part 2) words in mind now 10 years later
“if a referee wants, a team does not cross the centre circle”, we are a bit more sceptic now. And having watched the game over and over again, were still left with doubts.
However the 4 sending offs were incredible, and unnecessary.
Unfortunately Madorran has committed suicide since then, so we could not speak to him to clarify or ask about the subject.
When the word was out that Madorran may be corrupt, football needed to do something.
1) Investigate, show transparency and communicate results of investigations?
I am afraid that is not Grondona’s style.
2) Publicly deny any involvement of the referee in question, shut shop, and deal with it internally with integrity?
I am afraid not Grondona’s style either
3) Ah off course, let’s pretend that nothing has happened, but at the same time start a smear campaign (obviously not from inside AFA) towards Madorran.
Probably there is nothing worse inside the football world that sexual tendency prejudice.
So suddenly it became “common knowledge” that Madorran was gay, which he was not (not that should have any importance, anyway).
The concept of homosexuality in football is very taboo everywhere.
Fans started singing offensive songs towards him, players making same kind of comments.
He went to his union and AFA to seek help and support, and they gave him none, he was given less games to officiate in, therefore less income, more pressure.
And then one day, he killed himself.
Part 6 tomorrow, is the last part. As we did an introduction in part one. We will do a conclusion on part 6.