Argentina and Mexico were set to play a friendly ahead of the FIFA World Cup, but requests from the Argentine Football Association over issues with the payment stopped these plans.
With the recent talk about Argentina’s off-field scandals regarding corruption within the football federation, some new information has come to light about a recent planned friendly.
This game against Mexico was set to take place just weeks before the World Cup as a warm-up game for the tournament.
Mexico denied $6 million payment request from Argentina FA
According to Mexican reporter Carlos Ponce de Leon, Mexico initially reached out to the Argentine Football Association to play against them ahead of the FIFA World Cup.
Writing for Record, Ponce de Leon revealed that Argentina decided to ask Mexico for a $6 million fee, as that is what the federation charges for football games, presumably capitalising on their status as reigning world champions.
While the fee certainly made the fixture a bit difficult, it was a request from the AFA that raised concerns from the Federacion Mexicana de Futbol.
The Argentinian FA asked Mexico to deposit the $6 million in three instalments into three separate accounts, raising questions about the legality of these payments.
When the Mexican FA suggested that they would pay the amount directly to Argentina and leave the distribution of the money up to them, the AFA rebuffed this and asked Mexico to help them by ensuring the amount was distributed into the stipulated accounts.
As a result, the FMF decided not to go through with the fixture, as they were concerned that the payment plan was structured in a way that aroused suspicion.
AFA face a serious investigation going forward
Currently, the AFA are allegedly being looked into by authorities over allegations of corruption and money laundering.
And with a story like this emerging, there certainly appears to be smoke to this particular fire. This report will only further expedite the investigation into their internal affairs.
Some fans might be tempted to use this report of alleged corruption to further the narrative that the current FIFA World Cup has been ‘rigged’ in favour of Argentina.
However, there appears to be very little correlation to this alleged practice from the AFA and the dubious calls in their favour throughout the tournament.
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