The arrest and return to Argentina of Leonardo Ponzo, a Boca Juniors fan accused of racism against Corinthians, overshadowed what was the most important presence among the fans who occupied the visiting sector of the Neo Química Arena last Tuesday (26), in the Copa Libertadores game.
This is Rafael Di Zeo, historic leader of La 12, Boca’s barra brava – of which Ponzo is not a part, but he is a fan. On his Facebook, Ponzo has pictures with the head of the organization, who goes beyond being a simple fan.
Like other references from barra brava, 12 has political tentacles that transcend football. They are sought out by parties, candidates and unions in search of support. Sometimes, with presence in marches or acts of support. But sometimes in violent acts.
No wonder Di Zeo often boasts about the richness and diversity of numbers in his phone book, as they tell Sheet people who follow the daily life of Boca Juniors and the disputes for power in the organized ones.
The admiration of Ponzo is just one example of the idolatry that leaders of barra bravas (and the fans themselves) can provoke. They are seen as sort of pop stars. Outside the stadiums, clothes and souvenirs from the organized are as sought after as the team’s own uniforms.
In 2010, before the World Cup in South Africa, then-President of Argentina, Cristina Kirchner, received organizers at Casa Rosada, the seat of the government that helped finance their trip to the tournament. Among these organizations, none has as much power, political influence and fame as La 12. This also triggers violent disputes for control, the so-called “internal” for power.
Since being released from prison in 2011 for an attack on Chacarita Juniors fans committed in 1999, Di Zeo has taken back command of the organized crowd. Not without friction.
While Di Zeo was in prison, the number one in La 12’s hierarchy became Mauro Martín, rival of the former leader, who did not want to see his fans led by a man other than himself.
After years of threats of violence between one group and another, the administration of President Daniel Angelici (2011-2019) in Boca managed to unite the two factions of the barra brava. A marriage of convenience. The fans didn’t cause Angelici any problems, and the president allowed them to control La Bombonera’s business (tickets, sale of food at the stadium, parking, etc.).
That influence over the club has diminished in recent years, especially after Jorge Ameal, with the support of idol Juan Román Riquelme, won the presidential elections in 2019.
Riquelme never showed much sympathy for organized fans, used to visiting the locker room and receiving money from Boca players to organize events and pay for trips abroad for the team’s games in international tournaments. The former number 10 was not among those contributing.
Director of football in the current administration, he seeks to limit the powers of the barra brava, which today does not have the same political influence that it had in the past decade.
But Rafael Di Zeo and Mauro Martín want to regain the space they lost under Ameal’s presidency. To do so, they will have to bet on the opposition’s candidacy in next year’s elections, a ticket that could place another historic idol of the club, Carlos Tévez, as Riquelme’s opponent.
“I have no doubt that we are going to win the elections by 80% to 20% or 90% to 10%, no matter who runs,” Román said in a recent interview with TyC Sports. “If he [Tévez] is on the other side, it will be 85% to 15%.”
La 12’s future, however, does not seem to depend solely on a victory in the elections.
Currently, a group has been taking shape that includes members of a dissident faction called Lomas de Zamora, as well as former members of the official bar who frequented La Bombonera at the time when the tribunes were commanded by José “El Abuelo” Barrita, the of greatest power in Boca between the early 1980s and the mid-1990s.
In 1994, he was arrested on charges of leading an ambush of River Plate fans that ended with two rivals shot dead. Two years later, Rafael Di Zeo, a friend of Barrita, took over the leadership of the barra brava.
Barrita is a legend among organized fans because he “invented” the business model used by them to this day, also as a political tool.
Now, Di Zeo and Mauro Martín, who were never friends but cling to the union so as not to lose control of the group, find themselves threatened by this dissident faction, which wants its slice of the pie in the business run by the fans at Bombonera.
Recently, a message circulated in WhatsApp groups in Argentina that said “there will be shots”, a reference to the dispute over the power of the bar, with another violent episode that seems imminent.
To try to maintain command, the groups that surround Di Zeo and Martín frequent separate sectors in La Bombonera. Thus, they prevent a dissident group from being able to territorially assume a rostrum and, from there, gain popular support and from others who are unhappy with the direction of the organized crowd’s business.
The role of the 12th outside the stands at La Bombonera should grow next year. It is a year of presidential elections both in Boca Juniors and in Argentina, which should greatly increase the bargaining power of the organized Boquese.
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