International Football
ARGENTINE HOOLIGANS COULD BE BARRED FROM WORLD CUP DUEL WITH SUPER EAGLES
Argentina may be without their ever intimidating supporters when they face the Super Eagles in a World Cup potentially explosive match on June 26 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
The match comes up a day and four years after their last World Cup clash at Port Alegre, a Brazilian border town with Argentina. Even though the former two-time World Cup holders won the match 3-2, it was not without the usual harassment of Nigerian supporters by the Argentine hooligans.
A Nigerian journalist, the late Felix Okugbe was dispossessed of his electronic note book by the Argentine hooligans after the epic encounter.
Record of thefts and harassment of Argentine hooligans has raised concern with the government which is making efforts to save the country’s image. One of the step is the compilation of names of known hooligans who must be prevented from travelling to Russia.
Agency reports have it that the Argentine government on Tuesday confirmed that it will sign an accord with Russia aimed at preventing the country’s more than 3,000 hooligans from attending the Russia 2018 World Cup.
In view of this development, the new deal, which will be formally signed in the coming days, includes the names of fans banned from Argentine soccer grounds and other known members of the notorious Barras Bravas, the organised fan groups who have wreaked havoc at local stadiums.
“A list of 400 names of Argentines who will not be able to enter stadiums was handed over and it is estimated that the definitive database we send will have around 3000 names,” said Guillermo Madero, the national director of security at Argentine football matches.
A fan of Argentine soccer team Boca Juniors confronts police during riots after celebrations of Boca Juniors Fan Day in downtown Buenos Aires December 12, 2013. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci (ARGENTINA – Tags: SPORT SOCCER CIVIL UNREST) – RTX16G4S
The information will be shared with airlines and Russian immigration authorities and Argentine officials say the Fan ID, which supporters get when they buy tickets to the games, will act as another barrier.
Argentina will also send six law enforcement officials to Russia to help coordinate with local police and officials from the other 30 competing nations.
The Barras are fixtures at most top Argentine clubs and have been responsible for much of the violence that has sullied the domestic game in recent years.
In addition to launching violent attacks on other fans, and sometimes even players, they control the sale of some tickets and are often involved in other illegal activities outside football.
Sometimes, security men had to use water canon to disperse riotous Argentine fans.
Argentine media have reported that Barras from Boca Juniors met with their counterparts from Russian clubs Dynamo Moscow and Zenit St Petersburg in February and officials are taking as many preventive measures as possible.
“We believe that the barras will go to Russia whatever but they are not going to get into the grounds,” said Juan Manuel Lugones, the executive secretary of the agency set up to prevent violence at sports events in Buenos Aires.
Some 44 882 Argentines have bought tickets for the tournament, according to the latest FIFA figures.
The match with the Super Eagles will be the fifth in six World Cup tournaments that both countries have jointly qualified for. Previous encounters have been keen contested and Argentina won all by the odd goal.
Even the encounters at the two Olympic football tournaments that both featured were also keenly contest with victories equally shared and also by the odd goal. Nigeria won the Olympic gold medal in 1996 beating Argentina 2-1 while Argentina did the same at Beijing 2008 winning 1-0.
Representatives from four national players’ unions on Thursday launched a new global organisation in Madrid, which they say will strengthen footballers’ rights and improve dialogue with governing bodies.
Opening a new front in the battle over who speaks for players, the International Footballers’ Association (AIF) was unveiled, with David Aganzo, president of Spain’s Association of Footballers (AFE) and a former head of the global union FIFPRO, appointed to lead the organisation.
Players’ unions from Brazil, Mexico and Switzerland were also represented.
The initiative drew a swift rebuke from FIFPRO, which said in a statement that Aganzo was acting out of self-interest and aligning himself with organisations linked to football governing bodies, as well as groups expelled from FIFPRO over alleged mismanagement.
Aganzo rejected the criticism, saying he “will not seek confrontation with FIFPRO”.
The launch comes amid strained relations between players’ unions and football authorities, particularly over the expanding international match calendar.
Relations between FIFA and FIFPRO deteriorated in 2024 after the union lodged a complaint with the European Commission, arguing that the global governing body was abusing its dominant position by adding competitions without sufficient consultation.
Aganzo denied suggestions that the new initiative was backed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, but said “direct dialogue with FIFA” was essential.
AFE’s Extraordinary General Assembly approved the initiative in February with 99.8% of votes cast in favour of spearheading the creation of the AIF.
The same assembly also backed AFE’s withdrawal from FIFPRO, citing what it described as a “complete lack of transparency, as well as its total lack of dialogue with international bodies.”
“We represent over 30,000 footballers, and we come here with a new model aimed at safeguarding players’ rights and facilitating direct communication with all international bodies,” Aganzo told reporters.
“We are in contact with 15 to 20 unions already who were very aware of this moment and waiting for this announcement to make their move and join our initiative.”
He declined to identify any unions beyond those present.
Asked about a report that a senior envoy to U.S. President Donald Trump had urged FIFA to replace Iran with Italy at the upcoming World Cup, Aganzo urged caution.
“These are more political issues; on April 30th, I’ll be speaking to Gianni (Infantino) at the FIFA Congress, and we will discuss those things,” Aganzo said.
“People who want to go to the World Cup have to earn their place on sporting merit.”
-Reuters
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A new trial over the death of Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona will begin on Tuesday, with seven members of his medical team charged with negligent homicide nearly a year after a previous case collapsed in a mistrial.
An enduring presence in Argentina – from towering murals to tattoos, opens new tab – Maradona died on November 25, 2020, at 60, after a heart attack while he was recuperating from brain surgery to remove a blood clot.
A court in San Isidro, near Buenos Aires, will hear testimony from just under 100 witnesses as it tries Maradona’s medical team over alleged negligence in the death of the 1986 World Cup champion.
His medical team has denied wrongdoing. The defendants are psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychologist Carlos Angel Diaz, physician Nancy Edith Forlini, nurse Ricardo Almiron, head nurse Mariano Ariel Perroni, and physician Pedro Pablo Di Spagna. An eighth defendant, nurse Dahiana Madrid, will be tried in a separate jury trial, with no date yet set.
Two months into the first trial, which started last March, a mistrial was declared when one of three judges, Julieta Makintach, resigned after video surfaced showing her being interviewed by a camera crew in the corridors of the courthouse and in her office as part of a documentary, in breach of judicial rules.
The retrial will require both prosecutors and defense lawyers to reassess their strategies after the first trial aired photographs, videos, audio recordings and forensic evidence. Many witnesses, including Maradona’s children and his former wife, Claudia Villafane, have already testified.
Prosecutors argued in the initial trial that medical professionals broke treatment protocols and that the home where Maradona was recovering from surgery amounted to a “theatre of horror,” where necessary care was not provided.
The defense countered that his death was inevitable given his longstanding health problems. Maradona struggled for decades with cocaine and alcohol addiction.
The negligence charges emerged in 2021 after prosecutors appointed a medical board to investigate Maradona’s death. The panel concluded his medical team acted in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless” manner.
-Reuters
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Aliou Cisse has been named coach of the Angola national team, the country’s football federation (FAF) announced on Thursday, 24 hours after the Senegalese left his post in Libya.
The 50-year-old coach, who led Senegal to their maiden Africa Cup of Nations title in 2022, ended his short stint with the Libyan national team on Wednesday, after taking charge in March 2025.
“Welcome, Aliou Cisse, head coach of the Angola national team,” the FAF said on Facebook. Angola, which failed to reach this year’s World Cup, will start their 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign in September.
-Reuters
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