Claudio Tapia’s AFA responds to FIFA’s harsh punishment against Argentina with appeal plan

The Argentine Football Association (AFA) wasted little time reacting to FIFA’s harsh punishment against Argentina, issuing a statement from Claudio Tapia’s offices confirming that the federation’s legal department will formally request the grounds for the sanctions in order to challenge them before FIFA’s Appeal Committee.

“Given the notifications received, and in defense of the rights of the Association and its players, the AFA Legal Department will, in due time and form, request from FIFA the grounds for the rulings that are subject to review, in order to file appeals with the Appeal Committee of world football’s governing body, with the possibility of resorting to the CAS as a last instance remaining open in the future,” the official statement read.

The federation’s priority is reducing the individual suspensions handed to Leandro Paredes, Nahuel Molina, Thiago Almada, and assistant coach Roberto Ayala, with the stated goal of ensuring each of them misses as few matches as possible heading into Argentina‘s upcoming fixtures.

Given the length of Paredes’ (ten games) and Molina’s (seven games) bans in particular, any reduction would carry real weight for Lionel Scaloni as he plans his squad for the next international window.

Should the initial appeal fail to produce results, AFA has made clear it won’t rule out escalating the case to the CAS as a final resort, a path the federation has only taken once before in recent memory, back in 2022, over a suspended match against Brazil. For now, the process is just beginning, and no timeline has been given for when FIFA‘s Appeal Committee might rule on the federation’s request.

A full breakdown of FIFA’s fines against Argentina

Between the fines tied to fan conduct and the individual suspensions handed to Paredes, Molina, Almada, and Ayala, FIFA’s ruling against Argentina covers a wide range of incidents from across the tournament.

Team sanctions:

• $10,000 fine for the display of the Falklands flag.
• $20,000 fine for inappropriate spectator conduct.
• $100,000 fine (plus an additional $100,000 suspended) over racist and discriminatory chants from fans.
• 50% stadium capacity restriction for Argentina’s next home match, with a second such restriction suspended for one year.
• $91,000 fine for objects thrown onto the pitch, match delays, and security protocol failures.

Individual sanctions:

• Leandro Paredes: 10-match suspension and $90,000 fine
• Nahuel Molina: 7-match suspension and $90,000 fine
• Thiago Almada: 1-match suspension and $30,000 fine
• Roberto Ayala: 3-match bench suspension and $30,000 fine