River Plate announces split with AFA amid Tapia controversies

Argentine football giant River Plate announced on Thursday that it will no longer attend Argentine Football Association Executive Committee meetings. The club cites disagreements over the running of Argentine football’s governing body as the main reason.  In a statement released in the afternoon, River claimed that “there are no procedural guarantees in place to ensure a clear and predictable decision-making process within [AFA].” It added that the club believes issues should be included on the agenda “well in advance and put to a vote by the relevant members” and that on numerous occasions, “the observed operating dynamics have not reflected these mechanisms.” River went on to reaffirm its historic defense of the non-profit civil association model and lauded the AFA for its fight to guard it, but also highlighted the need “to consolidate a 20-team tournament” and to generate “resources that enable the growth of all clubs.” River’s announcement comes after the AFA confirmed a strike between March 5 and March 8 as a protest for the recent legal complaint filed by the Customs Collection and Control Agency (ARCA, in Spanish) against the sporting entity.  The complaint named AFA president Claudio “Chiqui” Tapia, his right-hand man and AFA treasurer Pablo Toviggino, AFA general secretary Cristian Malaspina, and his predecessor, Víctor Blanco, as those summoned for questioning. Past disagreements  This is not the first time River has taken distance from the AFA. In 2016, President Rodolfo D’Onofrio —under whom current President Stefano Di Carlo served as president of the Education and Communications areas— also stopped sending club representatives to Executive Committee meetings and resigned from the AFA’s vice-presidency. Five years prior, River president and 1978 World Cup captain Daniel Passarella had a fiery fight with historic AFA boss Julio Humberto Grondona over referee designations, which many fans believe ended with River’s historic relegation that year.