The scandal came to light at the end of March when a 17-year-old Independiente player told the team's physiologist that he and some of his teammates had been sexually abused and involved in a prostitution ring organized by a club member.
A search of River Plate headquarters immediately followed at the request of the Argentine Association for Victims of Rape (AVIVI).
Having analyzed more than 70 witness testimonies, the court suspects that the prostitution ring in the Independiente case also operated in Timperley sports club.
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Argentine sports journalist Pablo Carrozza told Sputnik Mundo that there have probably been multiple similar cases over the years in the Argentine sports world.
"There are people who experienced this in the past and now they are playing in the major league or even somewhere abroad," Carrozza said.
Another sports journalist, Roberto Parrottino, told Sputnik Mundo that the drama around Independiente has raised a question that had long been in the air, but that no one had the courage to voice.
"What we should remember is that this is a first such large-scale scandal in football, but in reality the problem has always been there, as harsh as it may sound," the journalist said, adding that in only the first six months of 2017 the number of complaints related to child abuse in Buenos Aires increased by 40 percent.
Argentina's Football Association said Wednesday that it will closely monitor boarding houses where youth players live following the scandal.
Many Argentinian stars, including Jorge Luis Burruchaga, famous for scoring the winning goal in the final of the 1986 FIFA World Cup, and Sergio Leonel Agüero del Castillo, who plays as a striker for Premier League club Manchester City, began their careers at Independiente.
