Argentina to Sue Over False Social Media Accusations

Argentina finished as World Cup runners-up after losing the final to Spain. However, the South American squad faced persistent social media attempts to diminish their achievements as they progressed through each stage of the tournament. These attacks often attributed their success to alleged refereeing favors, mostly without any basis. The organized media campaign against the Argentine national team appeared quite evident, leading the Argentine Football Association (AFA) to decide on legal action, as reported by the Argentine publication “La Nación.”

“La Nación” further highlighted grievances: During the match against Algeria, there was much discussion about a controversial potential sending-off for Lionel Messi for stepping on Mandi's calf. Yet, no attention was paid to Argentina's first goal being incorrectly disallowed due to an error in the semi-automated offside system. This was only the first round of the group stage, but the trend did not improve. By the round of 16, some voices attempted to overanalyze situations to imply refereeing favoritism towards “La Albiceleste” for an uncalled foul in added time, despite there being no actual contact.

Nevertheless, the social media campaign escalated during the round of 16 and quarter-final matches, primarily due to unfounded complaints from Egypt. The Egyptians failed to acknowledge the clear foul against Lisandro Martinez at the start of an attack that ended with their goal being disallowed. Furthermore, they inexplicably demanded a penalty for a situation involving Salah, which even the former Liverpool player didn't claim, before a counter-attack led to an opponent's goal. In the next round, Switzerland was reduced to ten men after Embolo's expulsion for simulating a foul from Paredes with a clear dive – an action that VAR corrected, applying a new protocol introduced at this World Cup. Thus, if there was any controversy surrounding the Swiss forward's red card, it should have focused on the rules, not on alleged favors for Argentina.

In all these situations, there was a common denominator – their widespread dissemination on social media to create the impression, by any means possible, that the competition was manipulated. This fact might seem insignificant, but in modern society, where generations tend to accept what they see on social media as truth, even without watching the matches, such a discrediting campaign successfully harms a team's public image.

For this reason, after the tournament concluded, the AFA decided to take action against those who made false accusations, spread manipulated images, unverified claims, and unfounded attacks. This will apply regardless of whether the content distributors are major media outlets, X accounts, or Instagram pages. According to “La Nación,” the legal team of the Argentine Football Association is already gathering evidence, screenshots, posts, and all necessary documentation.