Through a lengthy statement, the governing body of Argentine football spoke about the achievements obtained since 2017 and criticized Milei's administration
The Argentine Football Association (AFA) published a statement defending the management of the disgraced Claudio "Chiqui" Tapiaand raised the tone of the conflict with the national government. In the text, the governing body of Argentine football highlighted the achievements obtained since 2017 and denounced a political offensive against it, in a context of growing institutional tension.
The statement came after Patricia Bullrich filed a complaint with CONMEBOL's Ethics Committee. The head of the La Libertad Avanza bloc in the Senate targeted Tapia and the organization's treasurer, Pablo Toviggino, for alleged irregularities, a move that those at Viamonte interpreted as part of a broader offensive.
La AFA sacó un comunicado contra el Gobierno
In its response, AFA emphasized the economic order achieved during the current administration and pointed out that "it became a surplus organization, as is fashionable to say now, and today doesn't receive a single peso from the state." Along those lines, the statement also questioned the various governments that, according to the entity, used football as a battleground: "The last three governments of Argentina chose AFA as the target of their political ambitions," they stated, alluding to the administrations of Mauricio Macri, Alberto Fernández, and the current one of Javier Milei.
The entity went further and denounced an alleged "coordinated attack" by current government officials to boycott the assembly that reelected Tapia as president in 2024. In addition, it warned about an "intention to impose Sports Corporations" and to "impoverish the clubs by increasing the rate of Decree 1212."
In one of the central passages, AFA tried to distance its leadership from any partisan alignment: "During the administration that began in 2017, football was always prioritized over partisan political issues. We never allowed the use of the Champions of America and the World for political purposes; our teams do not represent a political party, but a country." It reinforced this idea with a blunt statement: "AFA doesn't talk about politics, it talks about football."
Según la AFA, ellos no se involucran el política
"Even today, they insist on presenting us as the Peronist AFA, when it was we who did not lend our image to the electoral contest. Both our treasurer and our president were investigated and duly acquitted in all cases initiated as part of an evident political persecution against both," the institution stated in another part of the text.
The statement ended with a direct reference to the country's social and economic situation and a phrase with clear recipients. "With this dramatic context in the country and the focus placed on issues that have nothing to do with the reality we Argentines are going through, we still won't give you the rights," AFA concluded, deepening a confrontation that promises new chapters.
