Carlos Alberto Babington died Wednesday, 11 November 2026. He was 77. And according to Clarín, he was still tied up in a fraud case over the 2010 signings of defender Carlos Quintana and midfielder César Montiglio when he went.
The left-footed playmaker they called "El Inglés" wore the No. 10 for the Huracán side that won the 1973 Metropolitano under César Luis Menotti. Fifty-three years ago. It remains the only league title Huracán has won in the professional era. Club Atlético Huracán confirmed his death the same day on social media, calling him "campeón de 1973, técnico, presidente de la Institución y uno de los más grandes futbolistas que dio el fútbol argentino." The statement gave no cause of death and no funeral details.
Who Has the Power
The Argentine Football Association rushed out its own condolences. "La Asociación del Fútbol Argentino, a través de su Presidente Claudio Tapia, expresa su profundo dolor," it said. Tapia added on social media that Babington was a "figura y gran emblema del fútbol argentino, que supo vestir la camiseta de nuestra Selección."
The institution that eulogizes the player is the same kind of institution that moves him around like a chess piece. Babington told it himself. He stayed in Germany after the 1974 World Cup to play four seasons for SG Wattenscheid 09 in the second division, and he missed the 1978 World Cup because the Wattenscheid president refused to let him return to Argentina on loan to Huracán. That refusal came even after a visit from Menotti in May 1977. "Haber ido a jugar a Alemania fue un error imperdonable," Babington said.
The 1974 World Cup itself, in his own words, was run like a bureaucratic afterthought. "Lo del Mundial '74 fue una desprolijidad absoluta," he said. He arrived on a Friday, eight days before the debut against Poland, and was told that day he would start. He scored in the 3-2 defeat. Argentina went out in the second group stage.
Who Gets Crushed
The club that built its identity around him also turned on him. Babington was elected Huracán president on 2 July 2006 with 938 votes, 203 more than then-president Oscar Padra. The club won promotion in 2007 and finished runner-up to Vélez in the 2009 Clausura. He was re-elected during that tournament with 1,518 votes to 744 for Alejandro Ginevra.
Then the machine ground him down. He resigned in mid-2011, a year before his term ended, amid an economic, administrative and sporting crisis that ended in the club's fourth relegation in 25 years. He was later suspended and expelled as a club member, and said he never again set foot in the Tomás Adolfo Ducó stadium. "Me molesta que quizá pase por Parque Patricios y alguno me grite ladrón," he told Infobae in 2021.
The courts joined in. Babington and his son Marcelo, then secretary general, were accused of fraudulent administration tied to the Quintana and Montiglio signings. They were first cleared. In May 2021, five years ago, an appeals court reversed the ruling, ordered them processed and imposed an asset freeze of 40 million pesos. The reports mention no verdict. A man who gave a club its only professional-era league title spent his last years barred from its stadium and frozen out of his own money.
What They're Calling "Legacy"
He grew up in Parque Patricios. His grandfather was born in London, which gave him the nickname. As a child he was called "Lavandina." His first teacher was Renato Cesarini. He took more penalties than anyone in Argentine first division history: 66, of which 57 were converted, according to one report.
He also tried to leave the system's orbit once. In 1972 he tried to play in England but could not find his ancestors' papers at the Foreign Office. Paperwork decided where a footballer could kick a ball.
Babington himself kept the loyalty on the pitch, not the boardroom. "Salir campeón con Huracán es lo máximo que viví en el fútbol," he said. And of the club: "Huracán y yo somos algo que no se va a poder romper nunca y eso me lo llevo a la tumba."
He's in the grave now. The case file isn't.
- carlos babington
- huracán
- death
- argentine football
- césar luis menotti
- argentina national team
- 1973 metropolitano
- football obituary