After his unprecedented triumph in European football, Ángel Di María returned to his Argentine home this summer. Since then, the 37-year-old has regularly led his youth club Rosario to victory, but even with the world champions, the breakthrough eluded them. Until last Friday arrived.
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The club from the country’s third city had not yet played, but, among others, Di María and his coach Ariel Horan held a trophy at the headquarters of the Argentine Football Association (AFA). After 38 years without a title, Rosario was crowned “Champion of the League”, unleashing a wave of indignation.
The climax of the whole affair was a boycott action last Sunday. In the first match after Rosario’s “title victory”, their opponent Estudiantes were forced to form an honor guard for their rivals before kick-off. In a protest orchestrated by the club president and former world-class player Juan Sebastián Verón, the people of La Plata turned their backs on him. This unequivocally showed his discontent with the arbitrary awarding of the trophy and the forced tribute.
However, the “rat stabbers” did not seem to be sore losers. According to “The Athletic”, among others, Estudiantes players, led by captain Santiago Núñez, sought contact with Di María & Cía in the players’ tunnel, congratulated them on the trophy and hinted at their subsequent boycott.
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Because the brain of the strange invention, the president of the AFA, Chiqui Tapia, then began to impose sanctions. The questionable rationale for this was presented to the public the following Monday.
In a press release, supposedly written in February 2025, the association banned resistance to future honor guards under threat of sanctions. The only problem: with some technical tricks, the actual creation date of the document was revealed to be Saturday, November 23, 2025.
With another statement, the association quickly contradicted the conclusions, but the damage was already done and caused a stir throughout the country. However, when it comes to these things, it is already difficult to surprise Argentina.
Since taking office, AFA President Tapia has repeatedly accomplished the seemingly impossible feat of further complicating the already complicated national soccer landscape. Breaking down the format (even just the league) in detail would far exceed the scope here. A sample: Rosario can be called “League Champion” because he accumulated 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 the Tapia government are the fact that the first division now has 30 teams and that nine (!) trophies are now contested annually. Verón has been criticizing this situation for a long time and now his club is being harshly punished.
The eleven Estudiantes players who refused to form the honor guard last week are suspended for the first two games of 2026. Santiago Núñez must also renounce his captaincy for three months. Verón has even been banned from all football-related activities for half a year.
What’s the point of all this? That’s a mystery. However, it seems likely that Tapia wants to honor national hero Di María with the suddenly invented trophy. Coming from humble beginnings, the 145-time capped player made his way to Real Madrid and was instrumental in Argentina’s 2022 World Cup title, including a goal in the final.
Meanwhile, Estudiantes must try to get rid of all their anger and refocus on sports. La Plata is in the quarterfinals of the championship because it beat Rosario 1-0 after the scandal. Your opponent this Sunday? Central Córdoba, a club that publicly supports Tapia and the association he directs. Students may be facing more problems there…
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This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.
📸 Luciano Bisbal – 2025 Getty Images