Manuel Adorni made the official announcement on X, while the AFA is intensifying its offensive against Estudiantes with a report full of irregularities
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President Javier Milei made an unprecedented decision: he will not travel to the World Cup draw to avoid what he considers an act of legitimization toward Claudio "Chiqui" Tapia, who has been accused of multiple corruption allegations, regulatory manipulation, and mafia-like practices in the management of Argentine soccer. The presidential stance was officially communicated by Manuel Adorni, former spokesperson and current Chief of Staff, through a forceful message on X: "The President of the Nation has decided not to make the planned trip to attend the World Cup draw to be held next December 5 in Washington DC. End."
The decision, which marks an unprecedented institutional rupture in the relationship between a national government and AFA, exposes the deterioration of Tapia's public image. According to government sources, Milei refused to endorse a system he considers opaque, discretionary, and contrary to the transparency he promotes for Argentine sports. Meanwhile, AFA is at the center of a new scandal after sanctioning Estudiantes de La Plata following the back-turned guard of honor to Rosario Central. The decision, far from easing the tension, deepened the perception of arbitrariness that dominates Tapia's administration.
Le secan la nuca al tiránico, Claudio “Chiqui” Tapia.
Through Official Bulletin No. 6797, the Disciplinary Tribunal imposed:
6 months of suspension for Juan Sebastián Verón, prohibiting him from any activity related to soccer (Article 12).
Two-match suspensions for eleven players from the squad, to be applied in the next tournament:
Fernando Muslera, Román Gómez, Santiago Núñez, Tiago Palacios, Facundo Farías, Leandro González Pírez, Santiago Arzamendia, Edwin Cetré, Ezequiel Piovi, Cristián Medina, and Mikel Amondarain.
An additional sanction for captain Santiago Núñez, who will not be able to wear the armband for three months.
A financial penalty equivalent to 4,000 tickets for "offensive conduct."
The severity of the measures did not go unnoticed: Estudiantes keeps that the famous "disciplinary bulletin" that supposedly regulated the guard of honor did not exist before the match. According to the club, AFA may have committed a cybercrime by creating and uploading the document on November 23 at 7:21 p.m., when the match had already ended.
Claudio “Chiqui” Tapia.
Even the version of the AdobePDFMaker software used to produce the file corresponds to a date after the alleged original publication. For the club, it was a maneuver intended to justify previously decided sanctions.
Bulletin 6625, a key piece of the controversy, establishes how the guard of honor should be performed and authorizes sporting sanctions. However, before its "appearance," no regulation contemplated disciplinary punishments for a gesture like the one made by Estudiantes. Until that moment, the ODT regulations of the Professional League were in force, which only provided for financial and administrative sanctions. AFA, conveniently, introduced new criteria right after Pincha's 1-0 victory over Rosario Central.
This episode adds to other inconsistencies: Central Córdoba, a club linked to AFA treasurer Pablo Toviggino, did not perform the corresponding guard of honor and was never sanctioned.
At the time, the explicit support of Milei for Estudiantes was also added to the institutional controversy. The President posted on X: "Honor to Don Osvaldo's School", accompanied by a Pincha jersey.
The message vindicated the Zubeldian mystique and the Bilardista lineage, figures the president openly admires. The phrase came after the file that AFA opened against Estudiantes players for their behavior on November 23 became known, based on a bulletin whose existence the club disputes.
