FIFA hands Leandro Paredes 10-match ban for post-final clash with Spain

New Delhi, Aug 21 (IANS) FIFA has handed Argentina midfielder Leandro Paredes a 10-match suspension for his role in the post-match clashes with Spain following their defeat in the World Cup final, with the sanction effectively ruling him out of the national team for the next year.

Paredes was given a ten-game ban for grabbing Spain’s defender Eric García by the throat and pushing Gavi to the ground following Argentina’s loss, a penalty which is one of the harshest ever imposed in World Cup history and is equal in severity to the suspension given to Croatia’s Josip Simunic in 2013. Nahuel Molina, who is a defender for Argentina, was given a suspension for seven matches and Thiago Almada, a midfielder, received a one-match ban.

Paredes and Molina were each fined $90,000 and Almada was fined $30,000. Given that the FIFA international calendar includes 10 matches for Argentina up to June 2027, Paredes’ suspension is in effect equivalent to a one-year ban from the national team. All of these 10 games could be friendly matches, since Argentina has no competitive fixtures arranged for that period. Gavi, who is a midfielder for Spain, has also received a one-match suspension which he will have to serve in Spain’s match against England in the Nations League at Wembley on September 26.

Roberto Ayala, who is an assistant coach with Argentina, received a suspension for three matches and was also fined 30,000 dollars. The Argentine Football Association (AFA) was also fined $110,000 for a number of incidents that took place during the tournament, such as players carrying a political banner concerning the Falkland Islands after their semi-final win against England and discriminatory chants from the supporters. FIFA also required the AFA to spend $100,000 on anti-racism initiatives.

Argentina had obtained $34 million in prize money from FIFA for the World Cup. At the time, politicians in the United Kingdom criticised the flag of the Falkland Islands, with the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey, calling for the players concerned to be suspended.

This incident occurred in the context of FIFA’s broader disciplinary measures regarding political gestures in football, since UEFA had previously banned Spanish players Rodri and Alvaro Morata for singing about Spain’s claims to Gibraltar after their victory at the Euro 2024 tournament.

The AFA then declared on August 6 that July 15, the date on which Argentina secured their semi-final win against England, should in the future be observed as “National Football Teams Day”. Argentina has the possibility of appealing the sanctions and fines, the federation having stated that it plans to challenge the decisions.

“The AFA legal department will, in a timely manner, request from FIFA the grounds for the reviewable rulings in order to file appeals with the governing body’s appeal committee, while retaining the future option of appealing to the CAS as a final recourse,” the federation said in a statement.

The federation stated that its legal department will promptly ask FIFA for the reasons behind the rulings which are subject to review so as to submit appeals to the governing body’s appeal committee, while at the same time keeping the possibility of taking the matter to the CAS as a last resort.

Paredes’ suspension of ten matches is similar to some of the strictest penalties in recent World Cup history; in 2014 Luis Suarez, the forward for Uruguay, was banned from all football for four months, meaning he could not play for Barcelona in club competitions, and was also suspended for eight more competitive international matches following his bite on Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini during the World Cup in Brazil. In 2013 Simunic received a suspension of ten matches for using a megaphone to lead the supporters in chanting a slogan which was linked to Croatia’s pro-Nazi regime during World War II after the World Cup qualifying playoff.

The disciplinary measures came about as a result of the disorder that took place at the World Cup final last month in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where FIFA treated the incidents as cases of assault. Argentina had lost the tight final against Spain after failing to produce any clear chances. In the second period of extra time, Spain’s forward Ferran Torres scored the sole goal of the match following the sending off of Argentina’s midfielder Enzo Fernandez.

The disciplinary committee of FIFA also required Argentina to play its following home game in a stadium running at fifty per cent capacity, and the second stadium penalty together with the fine of $100,000 was put on probation.

–IANS

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