After impressive protests, UEFA (for now) realized that the Super League may not have been such a good idea. In Argentina, cases are handled less delicately. Last week they simply came up with a competition, and the winner was quickly determined. At the center of it all is the association leader and national hero.
This summer, after an unprecedented triumph in European football, Angel Di Maria returned to his homeland of Argentina. Since then, the 37-year-old has regularly led his youth club Rosario to victory, but even though he won the World Cup, the big breakthrough has eluded them. Until last Friday came.
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The club from the country's third largest city had not yet played, but Di Maria and his coach Ariel Horan, among others, held the 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”, causing a wave of outrage.
The peak of the whole story was the boycott action last Sunday. In the first match after Rosario's “title victory”, their opponent Estudiantes was forced to form a guard of honor for their opponents before the start of the match. La Plata players turned their backs during a protest organized by club president and former world-class player Juan Sebastian Veron. This unmistakably showed their dissatisfaction with the arbitrary awarding of the trophy and forced tribute.
However, the “rat knives” were not losers. According to The Athletic, among other things, Estudiantes players, led by captain Santiago Nunez, tried to contact Di Maria and company in the players' tunnel, congratulated them on the trophy and hinted at their subsequent boycott.
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Because the mastermind behind this strange invention, AFA President Chiqui Tapia, then started issuing fines. The dubious 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: through a few technical tricks, the actual date of creation of the document turned out to be Saturday, November 23, 2025.
With another statement, the association quickly denied the findings, but the damage had already been done and caused a national outcry. However, when it comes to such things, Argentina is hard to shock.
Since taking office, AFA President Tapia has repeatedly managed the seemingly impossible to make the already confusing national football scene even more complex. Dissecting the format (even just the league format) in detail would be far beyond the scope of what is presented here. Taste: Rosario can call themselves “League Champion” because they had the most points before the league went into playoff mode to determine the champion.
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Two strong indicators of the new complexity under Tapia's leadership are the fact that the first division now has 30 teams and that there are now nine (!) trophies up for grabs each year. Veron has long been critical of this development and his club are now being punished accordingly.
All eleven Estudiantes players who refused to form a guard of honor last week have been suspended for the first two games of 2026. Santiago Nunez must also give up the captain's armband for three months. Verona was even banned from all football-related activities for six months.
What's the point in all this? This is just a guess. However, it is likely that Tapia wants to honor the national hero Di Maria with the suddenly invented trophy. From humble beginnings, the 145-time international worked his way up to Real Madrid and played a crucial role in Argentina winning the 2022 World Cup title, including scoring in the final.
In the meantime, Estudiantes must try to shake off all the anger and focus on the sport again. La Plata advances to the quarter-finals of the championship after beating Rosario 1-0 after a scandal. Their opponent this Sunday? “Central Cordoba”, a club that publicly supports Tapia and the association he leads. Estudiantes may have big problems there…
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This article has been translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.
📸 Luciano Bisbal – Getty Images, 2025
