South American soccer organization CONMEBOL removed Argentina’s Claudio Tapia from his FIFA council position. The move came after the Argentina soccer head made critical comments about the Copa America tournament.
Tapia is the head of the soccer association of Argentina. He became part of the FIFA council in October 2018 as an interim member. However, CONMEBOL removed him from the position after he said negative things about the recent Copa America.
CONMEBOL will hold an election to find Tapia’s replacement. However, they didn’t give a definite date for the election. Also, they didn’t give any list of names they are considering for the position.
How Argentina Soccer Head Lost his FIFA Position
Tapia criticized CONMEBOL and the Brazilian soccer association through an open letter published on July 3. Copa America was still ongoing at that time. According to football news reports, Tapia said Argentina suffered from bad officiating. Also, he said the pitches were of poor quality. He posted the open letter after Argentina lost to host Brazil 2-0 in the semifinals.
Tapia’s criticisms offended CONMEBOL. They decided to remove Tapia from the FIFA post because they didn’t like how he expressed his frustrations. They also considered Tapia’s investment in the position.
Gambling reviews and news sites report Tapia was angry at referee Roddy Zambrano, who officiated the Argentina-Brazil match. He said the referee should have checked video reviews at some key moments of the game. Also, he blamed CONMEBOL refereeing director for the bad officiating.
In addition, he complained about Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on the pitch during the break of the match. Tapia said the president’s security detail didn’t have the right identification. Also, he told soccer betting prediction sites that the president used the game as political propaganda.
Argentina superstar Lionel Messi agreed with Tapia’s complaints. Although he later apologized to the CONMEBOL, the ruling body suspended Messi for a match and fined him $1,500.
Brazil eventually won the tournament. If you think Copa America is excited, you should check out the K-League. You can bet Incheon United FC will give it their all even if they are at the bottom of the standings to date.