The delicate situation of Sebastián Villa, who is going through a judicial process after a complaint of sexual abuse and attempted murder, was at the center of the media scene in the run-up to the final that Boca ended up winning 3-0 against Tigre. And now, who came out to comment on it was Mauricio Macri, former president of the country and also former boss of the Xeneize club.
“Boca has a protocol”, started by saying as soon as the Radio Boing journalist consulted him about whether the Colombian should have played the final or not. “What does the protocol say?” The interviewer asked him, and Macri replied: “That precisely in such a case I could not have played. If you make a protocol, you are president of Boca… Well, it says it all, doesn’t it?”
Macri gave his opinion on Villa’s situation
What does the Boca protocol say?
Boca, like most First Division clubs, has its own gender protocol. A “legal instrument” that came into force in December 2021 (after the first complaint against Villa) and aims to regulate the procedures to be followed in the event of “acts of violence based on gender, gender identity or sexual orientation “. However, despite this new complaint against Villa, the protocol was not activated. And the same thing happened a month ago, when Eduardo Salvio starred in another episode of violence against Magalí Aravena, his ex-wife, whom he rammed with his vehicle on a public highway.
Why? For one simple reason. By leadership decision, the protocol can only be activated in the event that the victim herself files a complaint with the Department of Inclusion and Equality of Boca. That is to say: the protocol is not activated automatically “in the face of publicly known facts”, as other protocols do make explicit, but rather the victim, an anonymous person or a third party (with the consent of the affected person) has to present yes or yes the complaint to the club. Something difficult, since it places the complainant in a place of greater vulnerability and re-victimization.
The approval of the Protocol for Action in Cases of Violence Based on Gender, Gender Identity and/or Sexual Orientation took more than a year. Different political and feminist expressions linked to the club made a formal request to the Board of Directors and at the same time presented different projects for the club to incorporate this fundamental tool when it comes to addressing and preventing gender violence. Among those projects was, among other relevant articles, the one that urged the club to act ex officio, and in accordance with the regulations established in the protocol, in the face of publicly known facts.
Boca, however, adopted concepts from each of these projects and approved a protocol that allows it, for example, to once again turn a blind eye to cases like Villa’s. Less than two months ago, the club announced with great fanfare the assumption of Adriana Bravo, the first vice president in the club’s history, in place of the late Roberto Digón. In the photo appeared 30 men and a single woman, Bravo. The commitment to equality? From the mouth out…
