FIFA sanction against the AFA: the notification has arrived to Viamonte and the steps to follow to appeal are being evaluated

FIFA announced this on Wednesday a harsh sanction against the Argentine Football Federation. In reality, he opened two disciplinary files against him: one for “racist or homophobic” chants in home matches against Ecuador and Uruguay. And another for the incidents that occurred at the Maracaná, in the match against Brazil. Everything for the South American qualifiers.

The Association has already received the official notification and work has begun to counter it from Via Viamonte. As he found out Clarionin the next few hours “basics will be required” of the sanction and from that moment on there will be ten days to appeal.

For the matches against Ecuador and Uruguay, in which FIFA understands they were there “racist or homophobic songs”a pecuniary sanction was applied (it would be 50,000 Swiss francs) and also to “partial closure” of the stadium where the national team will play the next qualifying match at home (against Chile, in September).

Meanwhile, due to the Maracaná incidents – which appear in the second file, independent from the first – another financial penalty was applied for a sum similar to the previous one. So the AFA would have to pay about 100,000 Swiss francs (about $117,000).

It is known that it is difficult for FIFA to lift a financial sanction. However, The AFA is optimistic about the possibility of overturning the “partial closure” ruling of the stadium hosting Chile.

It will be difficult from then on Argentina had a “suspended closure sanction” pending. because in the last qualifiers (for the World Cup in Qatar) there were two matches in which flags were hung behind the goals, which is not allowed by FIFA protocol, which is why the AFA is considered as “repeat offender”.

Regarding the Maracaná incidents, a question arises: why is the AFA sanctioned if the organizer of the event was Brazil? Pursuant to Article 17 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, in section 2, it is established that “If one or more supporters of a federation or club engage in the inappropriate behavior described below, the federations and clubs concerned will be held responsible and may therefore be subjected to disciplinary and management measures, even if they can demonstrate that there was no it was negligence on his part related to the organization of the party”.

The Code lists:

a) invasion or attempted invasion of the pitch

b) throwing objects

c) light fireworks or other objects

d) the use of laser pointers or similar electronic devices

e) the use of gestures, words, objects or any other means to convey inappropriate messages in a sporting event, in particular messages of a political, ideological, religious or offensive nature

f) acts that cause damage

g) cause disturbances during the playing of the national anthems

h) any other lack of order or discipline observed in the stadium or its vicinity

In this sense, for FIFA, the Argentine public was responsible for some of these facts and, therefore, sanctioned the AFA, despite the match having been organized by the CBF, which also received a financial fine.

To take note

The Argentine fans, awarded by FIFA at The Best 2022 gala for their constant encouragement of the national team at the Qatar World Cup, are now at center stage for the “racist or homophobic” chants to which the mother entity of football alludes in sanctioning the AFA.

It is a culture shock, because for FIFA the word “puto” that Argentine fans use to refer to their rivals is considered homophobic. So, every time, the Argentine public sings “We have to defeat these bastards” in every home match, regardless of the rival and without reference to the sexual inclinations of the players or the visiting public, this constitutes a violation of the rules for FIFA.