Estudiantes chief Juan Sebastian Veron and team handed bans over guard of honour incident
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
Argentine former footballer player Juan Sebastian Veron in a March 16, 2022 file photo. The president of Estudiantes de La Plata and 11 players have been suspended for turning their backs on unexpected champions Rosario Central during the team's pre-match entrance on Nov 23, 2025.
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
BUENOS AIRES – Estudiantes de La Plata president Juan Sebastian Veron and the team’s starting line-up were handed suspensions by Argentinian Football Association (AFA) on Nov 27 after refusing to form a guard of honour for Rosario Central, who were declared league champions
Rosario won the new title by ending the regular season of the Apertura and Clausura tournaments with a combined 66 points.
Estudiantes’ players turned their backs on Rosario’s players when they walked onto the pitch for the Nov 23 Clausura last-16 game, protesting at their opponents being crowned champions, a title not outlined in the competition’s original rules. Rosario lost 1-0 at home.
Under previous regulations, the team with the highest annual points earned only a Copa Libertadores berth, while Apertura champions Platense are set to face the Clausura champions, to be decided next month, in the end-of-year Champions Trophy.
Former Argentina and Manchester United midfielder Veron, 50, was given “a six-month suspension from all football-related activities”, said the AFA disciplinary tribunal’s statement.
The players who “engaged in the reprehensible conduct” were suspended for two matches, it added.
Those sanctions will be served in the next tournament, allowing the players to feature in the Nov 29 Clausura quarter-final against Central Cordoba.
The AFA also stated that the players will not all serve their bans in the same matches so that the measure “does not affect the integrity of the current competition”.
Reuters has asked Estudiantes for comment. REUTERS
