Argentina’s Deputy Secretary of State for Sports Julio Garro was dismissed from his post on Thursday for denouncing the racist chant against some of the French national team’s players singing.
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What if the controversy turned into an international geopolitical crisis? The affair of the racist chant sung by Albiceleste players is, however, taking on increasingly worrying proportions, particularly in Argentina where the situation is turning into a state affair. While the vice-president Victoria Villarruel had, on Wednesday evening, given her support to Enzo Fernandez, the government announced, on Thursday July 18, that Deputy Secretary of State for Sports Julio Garro was dismissed from his post after he said that the video in which national team players made racist remarks against French team players gave rise to suspicions. “a bad image” from his country.
“No government can tell the Argentine national team, world champion and two-time champion of America [d’affilée]what she can comment, think or do, no more than any citizen. For this reason, Julio Garro is dismissed from his position as Undersecretary of Sports of the Nation”we can read on the official account of the Argentine presidency on X (ex-twitter).
Garro, who spoke on Argentine radio on Wednesday, also said that Lionel Messi “should apologize for this matter”just like the president of the Argentine Football Federation (AFA), Claudio Tapa. But, strongly criticized on social networks, he had finally backtracked, denying “categorically asked Messi to apologize”.
Earlier on Wednesday, Argentine Vice President, Victoria Villarruel, for her part, had given her full support to Enzo Fernandez, the Chelsea player being at the origin of the publication on Instagram of the video where we can see and hear the Albiceleste players repeating the racist chant. “Argentina is a sovereign and free country. We have never had colonies or second-class citizens (…) No colonialist country is going to intimidate us for a song or for telling the truths they don’t want to admit. Enough of feigning indignation, hypocrites. Enzo, I support you.”
Argentina have had a strong rivalry with France since their elimination in the round of 16 of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where they were eliminated by Les Bleus (4-3). They then took their revenge four years later at the World Cup in Qatar, winning on penalties at the end of a final that went down in history (3-3 aet, 4 pens to 2).