The governing body has opened a file against the Argentine national team over their altercations with opponents during the Qatar 2022 quarterfinal against the Netherlands.
Argentina defeated the Netherlands in one of, if not the, most heated match of this year’s World Cup. La Albiceleste ended up celebrating qualification for the Qatar 2022 semi-finals, but the banter with their opponents continued after Lautaro Martinez’s winning penalty.
Tensions were high even before the match began when Louis van Gaal made some comments about Lionel Messi that did not sit well with the Argentina national team. Waiting to speak on the pitch, Argentina unleashed an intense battle that escalated as the match went into extra time.
The players got into a scuffle when Leandro Paredes kicked the ball towards the Oranje bench and there were occasional scuffles during and after the penalty shootout. Eventually, FIFA opened a case against both teams.
FIFA opens a file against Argentina: How does this affect them at the World Cup?
Though Argentina will be under investigation for their misconduct during the Netherlands game, no player would be at risk of being suspended. According to Gaston Edul, FIFA always opens a file whenever there are more than five yellow cards in a game, it’s just a protocol.
Besides, Veronica Brunati notes that the sanctions — due to potential breaches of articles 12 (Misconduct of players and officials) and 16 (Order and FIFA opens a file against Argentinasecurity at matches) of the FIFA Disciplinary Code — are against the AFA (Argentina’s FA) and therefore don’t affect the players participating at the World Cup. Brunati adds that AFA will receive a financial penalty of nearly $10,000.
