On Friday, the Oral Court in Criminal and Federal Cases No. 1 acquitted all former officials and leaders implicated in the 'Fútbol para Todos' case. The court declared the nullity of the Public Prosecutor's Office closing argument, deeming it arbitrary, imprecise, and a violation of the principle of congruence.
The court, composed of judges Adrián Grünberg, Ricardo Basilico, and José Michilini, held that the prosecution 'failed in its legal duty to formulate motivated and specific conclusions' and did not manage 'to individualize a criminal act in relation to the accused persons,' which left the trial without a legal basis.
Based on that nullity, the judges stated that the prosecution's accusation was 'absent,' which prevented the analysis of the criminal liability of the accused.
The defense had argued that there was no evidence to accuse and sustain a complaint that had been processed in the justice system for years.
Therefore, the court ordered the acquittal of all the defendants: Juan Gabriel Mariotto, Jorge Capitanich, Aníbal Fernández, Luis Segura, Miguel Ángel Silva, Rubén Raposo, Sergio Marchi, Raúl Pagano, Eduardo Amirante, Jorge Galitis, Carlos Dávola, Carlos Pandolfi, Norberto Monteleone, and Natale Rigano.
In all cases, the acquittal was issued 'for the absence of a valid prosecution accusation against them' and without costs.
In one of the most forceful sections of the verdict, the magistrates affirmed that the accusation exercised by the Public Prosecutor's Office through Miguel Osorio and María Garmendia Orueta incurred in: 'violation of the principle of congruence,' 'arbitrary evaluation of the evidence,' and a total lack of identification of the facts attributed to each accused.
The court also ordered the cessation of all patrimonial measures issued during the process and ordered the lifting of the preventive attachments levied in 2017.
Additionally, it rejected the requests for confiscation made by the prosecution regarding the assets of The Footballer Foundation, the AFA, IVECO, and individuals, as a direct consequence of the acquittals.
The ruling concludes by placing the file at the disposal of Juan Mariotto's defense for possible complaints. The full reading of the sentence will be on March 11, 2026.
Thus, the court closed one of the most emblematic criminal processes related to the 'Fútbol para Todos' program, which began in 2014 and had an extensive judicial history.
