By Joiner Martinez
25 Jul 2024, 18:42 PM EDT
The unprecedented scandal at the match between Argentina and Morocco for the start of Group B of the men’s soccer tournament at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games added a new chapter: FIFA announced the opening of an investigation hours after the presentation made by the AFA with its president Claudio Tapia.
“The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has decided, pursuant to Article 36 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, to appoint an integrity expert to assist in investigations into possible breaches of FIFA regulations following the incidents that occurred during the match between Argentina and Morocco on 24 July 2024 at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Etienne, France, corresponding to the group stage of the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament Paris 2024,” the Switzerland-based body said in a statement published on its website.
The aforementioned Article 36, entitled “Integrity Experts”, states: “The Secretariat may appoint an integrity expert to assist in investigations into possible contraventions of FIFA regulations when necessary.”
This text, located within the General Provisions chapter of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, clarifies: “2. The integrity expert may request the opening of disciplinary proceedings and propose the imposition of disciplinary measures on member associations, clubs and individuals. 3. The integrity expert shall be impartial at all times and comply with the requirements of independence defined in the FIFA Governance Regulations.”
Hours after the controversial match, which ended with a 2-1 victory for Morocco, AFA president Chiqui Tapia announced that they would make a formal presentation to FIFA: “The Argentine Football Association has already submitted the claim to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee so that the pertinent regulatory measures are taken and a sanction is imposed on whoever is responsible,” the president clarified. According to Infobae, the document states that the victory should be awarded to the Argentine team after the attacks suffered by its players, which led to an early suspension of the match.
After hearing this news, the Head of Mission of the Argentine delegation, Carlos Ferrea, clarified that they would support the actions of AFA: “We always act in a double command. In the sporting part, our claim is directed towards the international federation, in this case FIFA. There, AFA makes the submission and we support it. AFA has the direct line with FIFA. By supporting AFA, we act on the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and inform it about what happened. We do not agree at all with the situations that Mascherano and the Argentine team had to live through. And much less with the whistles against the national team, these are things that are not shared, whether they are French, Moroccan or of another nationality. It is out of place.”
The scandal broke out seconds after the 15th minute, which referee Glenn Nyberg added to the game. Cristian Medina pushed the ball under the goal and, as the goal was being celebrated – which meant a 2-2 draw – the aggression against the Argentine players began from the stands of the Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium. Amidst projectiles and stun grenades, both teams immediately evacuated the field at the same time as the Moroccan fans invaded the pitch.
Without any official statements on what happened, the match remained in limbo for almost two hours until both teams reappeared on the pitch unexpectedly to warm up at the same time as the referee was reviewing in the VAR an offside position by Bruno Amione prior to the goal for the Albiceleste. This led to the goal being disallowed and the game being restarted for three more minutes of added time, which resulted in the Moroccans winning 2-1.
“We spent an hour and a half in the changing room, where at no point did they tell us what could happen, they never warned us. ‘We’re watching’, he told us. Our position was not to play anymore because they threw a million things at us, the game was stopped seven times… It has never happened to me as a player that in a game of this level the security failed seven times. Seven times it failed!” complained Javier Mascherano in a press conference after what happened.
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