July 21 – FIFA has opened a disciplinary investigation into the violent protest that took place after the final whistle of the World Cup final between Argentina and Spain on Sunday. The fight took place before the final awards ceremony.
While US broadcaster Fox cut into the action, the BBC won plaudits for sticking to the news story that cast a shadow over a game that saw a furious Argentina fail to get a single shot on target as they were outplayed and outplayed by Spain.
In the second half of extra time Argentina’s Enzo Fernandez received a second yellow card and was sent off. FIFA also reported that Argentina’s Leandro Paredes was sent off after pushing Spain’s Eric Garcia by the throat. This incident happened in front of referee Slavko Vincic. Paredes’ red card was subsequently expunged from the record.
FIFA said in a statement: “Following the examination of relevant match reports for the FIFA World Cup final between Spain and Argentina, and in accordance with article 36 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC), the FIFA Disciplinary Committee has appointed a Disciplinary and Conduct Prosecutor to investigate possible violations of the FDC in relation to incidents that will be forwarded to FIFA. The Disciplinary Committee once the prosecutor’s report is complete.”
Chaos began as soon as the final whistle blew.
When the Spanish players ran from the bench to cheer, Rodri, who was sent off in extra time, was hit by Nahuel Molina, who ran past him.
Rodri then confronted Molina, who just pushed him.
Eric Garcia ran to support his teammate at which point Paredes jumped in, striking Garcia in the throat.
Gavi tried to mediate, he was forced to the ground by Thiago Almada followed by Paredes who pushed him to the ground and put his hand on his face.
Roberto Ayala was seen grabbing Garcia by the throat and then appeared to punch Spanish midfielder Dani Olmo.
The whole situation was more than the pushing and shoving that you see between players when anger boils over. It was a shame that the finals had brought the world’s media together to criticize Argentina, who had been living the good life and benefited from the referee’s whistle in all of their knockout round matches.
Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni, in his post-match interview, said: “We are kind in winning, and we must be kind in defeat. Today, we show that we can lose.
“We lost this game, and we accept it, but that doesn’t mean we stop living or forget everything we did to get here.”
There was no apology from Argentina for the behavior of the players and their managers.
Unconfirmed reports have also emerged that police have arrested at least one member of the Argentinian player’s family after trouble broke out on the pitch.
On the field, the Argentine players turned their backs on the Spaniards as they collected the winners’ medals.
Argentina’s FA are already facing disciplinary action after raising a banner after England’s match that read ‘Las Malvinas son Argentinas’. They were previously fined £20,000 for holding up a similar banner in 2014 before a friendly against Slovenia.
The players carrying the banner were Tottenham’s Cristian Romero, former Spurs player Giovani Lo Celso and Manchester United’s Lisandro Martínez.
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