Fake trophy boycotted: Association bans half the club for months

After impressive protests, UEFA has (for now) realized that the Super League might not have been such a good idea after all. In Argentina, things are handled less delicately. Last week, a competition was simply invented there, and the winner was promptly crowned. At the center of it all are the association boss and a national hero.

After his unprecedented triumph through European football, Ángel Di María returned to his Argentine homeland this summer. Since then, the 37-year-old has regularly led his youth club Rosario to victories, but even with the World Cup winner, the big breakthrough eluded them. Until last Friday came.

The club from the country’s third-largest city hadn’t actually played then, but among others, Di María and his coach Ariel Horan held a trophy in their hands at the headquarters of the Argentine Football Association (AFA). After 38 years without a title, Rosario was crowned "Champion of the League," sparking a wave of outrage.

The peak of the whole affair was a boycott action last Sunday. In the first match after Rosario’s "title win," their opponent Estudiantes was forced to form a guard of honor for their rivals before kickoff. In a protest orchestrated by club president and former world-class player Juan Sebastián Verón, the players from La Plata turned their backs. This unmistakably showed their displeasure with the arbitrary awarding of the trophy and the forced tribute.

However, the "rat stabbers" did not appear to be sore losers. As reported by "The Athletic," among others, the Estudiantes players, led by captain Santiago Núñez, sought contact with Di María & Co. in the players’ tunnel, congratulated them on the trophy, and hinted at their consequential boycott.

Because the mastermind behind the bizarre invention, AFA President Chiqui Tapia, then started handing out penalties. The questionable basis for this was presented to the public the following Monday.

In a press release, allegedly written in February 2025, the association banned resistance to future honor guards under threat of sanctions. The only problem: with a few technical tricks, the actual creation date of the document was revealed to be Saturday, November 23, 2025.

With another statement, the association quickly contradicted the findings, but the damage was already done and caused a nationwide stir. When it comes to such things, however, it’s hard to shock Argentina anymore.

Since taking office, AFA President Tapia has repeatedly managed the seemingly impossible feat of making the already convoluted national football scene even more complicated. To break down the format—even just that of the league—in detail would far exceed the scope here. A taste: Rosario can call themselves "Champion of the League" because they collected the most points before the league switched to playoff mode to determine the champion.

Two strong indicators of the new complexity under Tapia’s rule are the facts that the first division now has 30 teams and that now nine (!) trophies are contested annually. Verón has long criticized this development, and his club is now being punished accordingly harshly.

All eleven Estudiantes players who refused to form the guard of honor last week are suspended for the first two games of 2026. Santiago Núñez must also relinquish his captaincy for three months. Verón has even been banned from all football-related activities for half a year.

What’s the point of all this? That’s anyone’s guess. However, it seems likely that Tapia wants to honor national hero Di María with the suddenly invented trophy. Coming from humble beginnings, the 145-time international worked his way up to Real Madrid and played a decisive role in Argentina’s 2022 World Cup title, including scoring in the final.

Meanwhile, Estudiantes must try to shake off all the anger and focus on sports again. La Plata is in the quarterfinals for the championship because they beat Rosario 1-0 after the scandal. Their opponent this Sunday? Central Cordoba, a club that publicly supports Tapia and the association he leads. Estudiantes may be facing more trouble there…

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

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