San Lorenzo Hit with Fourth Transfer Ban Amid Mounting Financial Troubles

While San Lorenzo’s first team continues to impress under Miguel Ángel Russo with a spot in the Apertura quarterfinals, the club’s institutional turmoil deepens. According to Clarín, a fourth transfer ban has been issued—this time over unpaid installments owed to Colombian defender Cristian Zapata, who played for the club between 2021 and 2022.

The latest sanction adds to existing bans from Monterrey for the final installment of Adam Bareiro’s transfer (now at River Plate) and from former midfielder Diego “Torito” Rodríguez. Altogether, the club must pay close to $2 million to lift the bans and register new players in the upcoming transfer window.

Interim president Julio Lopardo, elevated from first vice president after Marcelo Moretti took leave, now faces this as an urgent test. Moretti is under investigation for allegedly accepting a $25,000 bribe to sign a youth player and refuses to resign, claiming support from AFA president Claudio Tapia should he be cleared.

The financial woes don’t stop there. Swiss investment firm AIS Group is pressing for $4 million over a pandemic-era loan. Although a bankruptcy petition was denied last week, the club also struggles with player wages—partly because recent TV rights advances were deposited into an embargoed account and remain frozen.

Despite the storm, San Lorenzo’s squad remains united. They face Argentinos Juniors on Monday in a bid to reach the semifinals, just three matches away from a title. But institutional pressure keeps mounting, with opposition leaders calling for early elections and a deepening crisis behind the scenes.