Argentine second division side Independiente is "facing one of the worst moments in its history," according to LOS ANDES. The club "seems submerged in a never-ending tide of problems, with new difficulties appearing every hour." The club's employees "on Sunday decided to stop working over a lack of payment" and the team's game scheduled for Monday against Almirante Brown "is at risk." When it "seemed that the day in which an agreement would be signed had arrived -- in which an opposition group would contribute financial assistance -- the agreement was far from sealed" (LOS ANDES, 4/13). In Buenos Aires, Favio Verona reported Independiente's youth players "are those who are suffering the most from the economic crisis." The club's debt is 440M Argentine pesos ($55M). The crisis has "become so bad that some players do not even have access to the most indispensable needs." Independiente youth player Brian Simone, 15, said, "I don't know if I am doing bad or good by saying it, but it seems serious that we do not even have the money for food. On Friday, for example, some players could not eat because there was not enough for everyone" (OLE, 4/13).
