An Argentinean sports legend finds itself in the drop zone

For the first time in its illustrious history, River Plate, the most successful team in Argentinean soccer, is facing possible relegation to the second division. River lost its final game of the season last Saturday against Lanús. The 2-1 defeat condemned the side to a humiliating playoff against Belgrano de Córdoba if it is to stay in the topflight of Argentinean soccer.

To put things in perspective, the club has won 33 league titles - 10 more than archrivals Boca Juniors - and is nicknamed the "Millionaires," reflecting its former status among the global elite of soccer.

River was among six clubs threatened with relegation going into the last regular-season games, but the others are little-followed outside the country: Tigre, Olimpo, Huracán, Gimnasia and Quilmes. Argentina's league system is complex, as are its procedures for relegation.

The country divides its soccer-playing year into two 19-game seasons - the apertura from September until December, and the clausura from February to June. At the end of both seasons, two teams are automatically relegated. Relegation is based on results over three years or six seasons; a system that favors big sides who occasionally have dips in performance.

River was not in danger of going down automatically, but its defeat against Lanús meant it became one of two first-division teams facing a two-game playoff against second-division opposition with the survivors playing in the first division. The losers go down. River's performance this season has been average. It finished ninth with 26 points - 13 behind Vélez. But its previous seasons have been poor, and now it faces the consequences.

Rumors abound

For a massive club like River Plate, flirting with relegation requires a prolonged period of incompetence - and this is what has happened. River has spent years in administrative chaos, with rumors that the organized gangs of thugs who are known to wreck Argentinean soccer were even getting a cut of transfer fees. Former great Daniel Passarella was elected club president on a clean-up ticket, but he found that it is not easy to take control of matters.

Passarella first went with Ángel Cappa as his coach, a fan of the flowing, attacking football that is integral to the club's identity. But the results were not encouraging, and so he left and the club went in the opposite direction, signing former midfielder J.J. López, who has been sending out desperately defensive sides. The club also has debts reported to stand at $19 million, forcing it to sell top players to European clubs and further weakening itself on the pitch.

Meanwhile, the rumor mill has been operating at full tilt, with suspicions that the authorities are not prepared to see Argentina's top team go down.

Referees for last weekend's matches were hand-picked by Julio Grondona, the powerful president of the Argentinean Football Association and number two to FIFA president Sepp Blatter. Grondona has already weighed in, saying last week that River "is one of the teams with the best chance of avoiding a relegation playoff."