Clubs re-elect ‘Chiqui’ Tapia as AFA chief in defiance of Milei government

Claudio ‘Chiqui’ Tapia has easily won re-election as the head of Argentina’s domestic football federation, laying down a challenge to President Javier Milei’s government.

Tapia, 56, extended his seven-year stay at the helm of the Argentine Football Association (AFA) when members met for a general assembly at the federation’s headquarters in Ezeiza on Thursday.

AFA ignored a domestic court ruling blocking the election to stage the vote.

The only dissenting vote against Tapia’s re-election came from businessman Andrés Fassi, the president of Talleres de Córdoba.

“Upon approval of the ítems on the agenda, the president of this institution has been re-elected,” read an AFA release.

Tension is ramping up in domestic football. Tapia is at odds with President Milei, who is pushing for the privatisation of clubs into sporting corporations or limited companies (SAD, in their Spanish acronym).

A mid-August decree issued by Milei gave AFA a one-year timeline for the Argentine Football Association (AFA) to amend its statutes and accept privately owned in the professional league.

Under AFA’s existing rules, only non-profit civil associations are allowed to participate. 

The entry of limited companies has long been yearned by President Milei, who has declared himself on numerous occasions against the "impoverishment model" of Argentine clubs.

Tapia has refused to consider the possibility of privately-owned clubs.

“We understand that in order to have a world champion national team, we need your work,” the AFA chief told clubs at the assembly. 

“When we say that we don’t want a given model we also say it because of this. If clubs do not train players, we would not have youth teams,” he argued.

The assembly took place despite an order by the General Inspection of Justice (IGJ – a body assigned to the Justice Ministry that controls civil associations – suspending the meeting at the request of Talleres de Córdoba.

AFA once again filed an appeal, but must wait to see whether or not it is admitted.

At the meeting, part of the AFA’s articles of association were also modified: the length of directors’ terms was extended, relegations in the top division were suspended, and AFA’s headquarters were formally moved from Buenos Aires City to its base in Ezeiza, Buenos Aires Province.

Milei v Tapia

Milei has called on AFA to modify its articles of association to allow private companies into the league, though the federation has thus far hinder the move in the courts.

AFA has been backed so far by CONMEBOL, South American football’s governing body.

Milei’s privatisation push is backed by several other leading politicians, including former president Mauricio Macri, the conservative PRO party leader who spent more than a decade leading the giant Boca Juniors football club in Buenos Aires.

Argentina’s clubs are currently non-profit civil associations, in which fans pay membership dues that give them a right to vote for who they want to run their institutions, which often provide services in their local community and organise a host of other sports.

The quarrel between AFA and the government might escalate further –  the IGJ has the power to request that the body be put under trusteeship. 

Such a step would be highly frowned upon by FIFA, the sport’s global governing body, which is against political intervention into national federations and could punish Argentina with disaffiliation – an unthinkable step for the world champions.

Tapia will likely now serve a fresh four-year term running from March 2025 to March 2029, extending his spell in power to 11 years.

He took on the role in 2017, replacing Luis Segura who resigned in 2016 amid fraud allegations. 

The ex-Barracas Central president was always seen as likely to win a third term. 

While in charge, Tapia has been a central figure in Argentine football, overseeing the national team’s recent trophy-laden run, which has included the 2022 World Cup and two successive Copa América triumphs. 

However, there has been much criticism of the domestic game, which has slumped in quality in recent years and remains ravaged by corruption allegations and hooliganism.

– TIMES/AFP