Argentina Vice President Victoria Villarruel has reportedly defended Enzo Fernandez and his teammates for their involvement in discriminatory chants of French players following their Copa America final win against Colombia.
According to The Independent, Mrs Villarruel also stated that she would not tolerate the actions of a “colonialist” country.
“No colonialist country is going to intimidate us for a song on the pitch or for telling the truths they don’t want to admit,” Villarruel posted on her account on X.
“Argentina is a sovereign and free country. We never had colonies or second-class citizens. We have never imposed our way of life on anyone.
“But neither will we tolerate that they do it to us … Enzo I support you, (Lionel) Messi, thanks for everything! Argentinians always hold your head up high.”
Recall also that following France’s 2022 World Cup loss to Argentina, Mbappe and other players of African origin received racist taunts on social media. This led a top French cabinet minister to request that FIFA look into the matter.
Later on Wednesday, Julio Garro, Argentina’s undersecretary for sports, was dismissed from his post for proposing that Argentina captain Lionel Messi apologize for the taunts, according to the office of President Javier Milei of Argentina.
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“The Office of the President informs that no government can tell what to comment, what to think or what to do to the Argentine National Team, World Champion and twice champion of America, or to any other citizen,” the presidential office wrote in a post on X.
“For this reason, Julio Garro ceases to be Undersecretary of Sports of the nation.”
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