Daniel Angelici · History

On 25 May 1940, Boca Juniors opened the stadium in the La Boca neighbourhood that would later be known as La Bombonera. Seven decades later, the same ground was at the centre of Daniel Angelici's time in charge of the club. He was Boca's president from 14 December 2011 to 13 December 2019. Angelici was born on 3 May 1964 in Parque Patricios, Buenos Aires. He is an Argentine football executive and businessman who combined running Boca with posts at the Argentine Football Association and a political career that began in his youth.

Education and early politics

He studied at the University of Buenos Aires, where he was active in Franja Morada, the Radical student group at the Faculty of Law. In 1982 he joined the Radical Civic Union and aligned himself with the faction led by Enrique “Coti” Nosiglia. He served as a Radical Youth delegate to the party's Buenos Aires City Committee and to its National Committee. In business, he chaired the Argentine Chamber of Bingo Halls and held stakes in several betting companies and a racehorse stable. His friendship with Mauricio Macri, Boca president from 1995 to 2007, drew him first to Macri's PRO party and then into the club's leadership.

Club treasurer

Angelici joined Boca's board as treasurer on 5 November 2008, under president Jorge Amor Ameal. He held the post until 27 August 2010, when he resigned amid the dispute over renewing Juan Román Riquelme's contract, which he opposed. His departure made him the leading figure of the Macri faction against Ameal, and the two would face each other at the ballot box more than once.

First term (2011-2015)

In the December 2011 election he won 10,431 votes to Ameal's 8,784. He took office on 14 December with Oscar Moscariello as vice-president. Under coach Julio César Falcioni, Boca won the 2011-12 Copa Argentina and reached the 2012 Copa Libertadores final, which they lost to Corinthians. Falcioni left at the end of 2012, and Carlos Bianchi returned for a third spell as coach. In July 2013 the club unveiled Fernando Gago as a new signing. In August 2014 the board dismissed Bianchi and hired Rodolfo Arruabarrena. On 28 October 2014 Angelici was named second vice-president of the AFA. He resigned on 19 May 2015, days after the incidents that forced the abandonment of the Copa Libertadores round-of-16 Superclásico at La Bombonera. Later that year, Arruabarrena's side won the 2015 Argentine Primera División and the 2014-15 Copa Argentina.

Re-election and second term (2015-2019)

He was re-elected in December 2015 with 11,421 votes, ahead of Ameal (8,063) and José Beraldi (6,549), with Rodolfo Ferrari as his vice-president. Arruabarrena left in February 2016. In March, the club appointed Guillermo Barros Schelotto, whom Angelici had already wanted to hire in 2014. Under him, Boca won back-to-back league titles in 2016-17 and 2017-18, plus the 2018 Supercopa Argentina. On 29 March 2017 Angelici returned to the AFA as first vice-president, alongside president Claudio Tapia. In 2018 Boca reached the Copa Libertadores final against River Plate. The second leg was moved to the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, where Boca lost on 9 December 2018. Barros Schelotto left after that final, and the board appointed Gustavo Alfaro for 2019.

The 2019 election and his departure

The club statutes barred him from a third consecutive term. In the election of 8 December 2019, the ruling group therefore put forward Christian Gribaudo. Around 38,000 members voted, the highest turnout in the club's history up to that point. Ameal's ticket, with Riquelme as second vice-president, won with 20,045 votes to Gribaudo's 11,607. The result ended 24 years of leadership tied to Macri. Angelici handed over the presidency on 13 December 2019 and stayed on as first vice-president of the AFA until 19 May 2020. In October 2022 he broke with Macri by backing Martín Lousteau for head of government of the City of Buenos Aires.