Grandees River Plate all at sea and banking on new president with a familiar name

River Plate fans inside El Monumental, a stadium – if not a team – transformed under the presidency of Jorge Brito. Photograph: Agustín Marcarian/Reuters

Stefano Di Carlo was two months old when, in 1989, his grandfather, Titi, became the president of River Plate, taking over after the resignation of Hugo Santilli. He was seven months old when, that December, his grandfather narrowly lost the presidential election. He was three years old when his grandfather took him to his first River Plate game.

Titi Di Carlo remained a senior figure at the club and was on the board when he went to a Copa Libertadores quarter-final against Banfield with the 16-year-old Stefano. The first leg had finished 1-1.