July 18 – The racism row concerning members of Argentina’s Copa America-winning squad has taken a dramatic twist with the sacking by the government of undersecretary for Sports, Julio Garro.
Garro was shown the door after he reportedly demanded that Lionel Messi should apologise for the chants sung by his side following victory against Colombia.
A video posted on Instagram by Chelsea’s Argentine midfielder Enzo Fernandez, widely viewed on X, showed Argentina players appearing to question the African heritage of France’s black and mixed-race players while on the bus to the airport.
One of Fernandez’s Chelsea teammates, France defender Wesley Fofana, posted the video on his social media accounts Tuesday, calling it “uninhibited racism”.
The French FA have pledged to file a complaint with FIFA over “racist and discriminatory remarks” while Fernandez, who is under investigation, has himself issued a lengthy apology.
According to media reports, one of the verses in the song was: “They play for France, but their parents are from Angola. Their mother is from Cameroon, while their father is from Nigeria. But their passport says French.”
The song also had derogatory references about France and Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe.
Although Messi was apparently not on the bus at the time of the incident, Garro, who was appointed Argentina’s sports undersecretary only in March, demanded an apology from him and from Argentine Football Association (AFA) Claudio Tapia.
“The national team captain must also come out to apologize for this case. The same [goes for] AFA president. I think it is appropriate. It leaves us as a country in a bad position (after) so much glory,” Garro said.
Many observers might concur with such sentiments yet straight after his comments were aired, Argentina President Javier Millei’s Office announced Garro had been sacked.
“No government can tell what to comment, what to think or what to do to the Argentina national team, world champion and two-time Copa America winner, or to any other citizen. For this reason, Julio Garro ceases to be the nation’s sports undersecretary,” a statement said.
Seemingly too late to get his job back, Garro quickly back-tracked by saying that “offending anyone was never my intention, and that is why I have offered my resignation, although I will always be on the other side of discrimination in all its forms.”
Clearly not everyone in the upper echelons of Argentine politics agrees. For whilst Garro was shown the door for taking a stance against racism, no action has been taken against Argentina Vice President Victoria Villarruel for defending Fernandez and the other alleged culprits, implying too that France had over-reacted.
“We have never imposed our lifestyle on anyone and will not allow anyone to do that to us,” she wrote on social media.
“No country can threaten us with a song that only talks about the truth that they refuse to admit. Enough of pretending to be angry, you hypocrites. Enzo, I support you. Messi, thank you for everything.”
Meanwhile FIFA is investigating the video in question that is doing the rounds on social media.
“FIFA is aware of a video circulating on social media and the incident is being looked into,” a FIFA spokesperson said. “FIFA strongly condemns any form of discrimination by anyone including players, fans and officials.”
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