D’Onofrio called for courage to speak to Tapia and recalled River’s blank vote in 2017
River’s former president reentered the boardroom debate and pointed to the fear of confronting the AFA chief. He also recalled how the Núñez club voted when Chiqui Tapia ran for the first time in 2017.
The political climate of Argentine football added another sign of tension with the remarks of Rodolfo D’Onofrio, who called for more firmness in the discussion with Claudio Tapia. River’s former president demanded “courage” so as not to dodge the debate.
D’Onofrio’s complaint to the leadership
The stance of the former Núñez executive rested on a central idea: not approaching the AFA president with fear. His message was aimed at the way some officials stand up to the institutional power of local football.
Rodolfo D’Onofrio: “No hay que tenerle miedo a Tapia”.
The phrase summed up the tone of his intervention and made it clear that, beyond any sporting context, the focus was on the political debate within Argentine football. In that framework, D’Onofrio also recalled a defining moment from River’s recent past.
The 2017 precedent River mentioned
D’Onofrio also revealed that River voted blank in 2017, when Chiqui Tapia ran for the first time. That detail reopened a key scene from the leadership battle of that time and helps explain that the relationship between the Núñez club and the AFA structure already had its nuances before the present.
In an ecosystem where support, silence and abstentions also count, D’Onofrio’s reminder once again shows that football politics is played both on and off the pitch.
A message with a broader reading
The reference to River’s blank vote in 2017 did not remain an isolated anecdote. In fact, it served to show that boardroom decisions leave a mark and that, even years later, they can come back into focus when a debate over leadership and power in the AFA emerges.
- Tapia is now at the center of the debate raised by D’Onofrio.
- River was mentioned for an institutional stance taken in 2017.
- The former president called for courage as a condition for discussing the running of Argentine football.
In times of political noise and competing interpretations, the message from the former Millonario boss fully entered a terrain where every word matters.
