Marcos Swain, the chief of staff for the chief executive office, said Mr. Simeone would not address the issue. Yet his message, delivered in the presence of his fellow members of the board, was clear.
“The president did address the issues that have come to light today,” Mr. Swain said in the speech Thursday, which aired on local TV. “He had this message for his board and the members that he had addressed: We’re open for business right now.”
Mr. Simeone’s remarks were made ahead of a meeting of the executive board that will consider his candidacy to take the soccer team public. The group had agreed to hold a vote on a preliminary slate of directors, but the president has insisted that the board’s voting is final. At stake are potential millions of dollars in payments he could receive as the team’s owner.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the vote was still unconfirmed.
If approved, Mr. Simeone has until the end of the year to file an offer to buy the team from the league’s 32 owners — an event that seems inevitable given the pressure Mr. Simeone is under.
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The board has been in closed session with members until late Wednesday, when it will cast the final votes. All votes are by secret ballot, allowing only the president and three other members to cast a vote. A member who leaves the room for any reason on the last day is automatically banned from returning. The vote is expected to take place Wednesday evening in New York, with the vote to follow at the end of that night.