River Plate boycott Argentine FA as Buenos Aires giants hit out at 'unclear' rules amid tax evasion investigation

The long-standing tension between River Plate and the AFA reached a breaking point on Thursday when the club, chaired by Stefano Di Carlo, announced their immediate withdrawal from all Executive Committee meetings. This move coincides with a wider judicial storm involving the AFA and its president, Claudio Tapia. Federal authorities are currently investigating an alleged 19.3 billion peso (£11m/$14m) fraud related to social security contributions and tax withholdings. While other professional clubs have launched a strike to protest this investigation, River have chosen a different path of resistance, accusing the AFA of failing to provide a "clear and predictable" process for high-level decision-making.

In an official statement, the Buenos Aires giants expressed deep dissatisfaction with the AFA's internal operations. "The current functioning of the Executive Committee lacks the necessary procedural safeguards to ensure a clear and predictable decision-making process," the club explained. "Our institution believes that discussions about the future of Argentine football should be conducted through clear and predictable procedures: with topics included on the agenda well in advance and submitted to a vote by the relevant members. On numerous occasions, the observed operating procedures have not reflected these mechanisms, resulting in processes that are less transparent than those River Plate is accustomed to in the functioning of its own Board of Directors."

River argued that critical issues were often discussed without being formally presented for evaluation or voting, a practice they claimed fell far below the professional standards of their board. Consequently, the club confirmed: "Until the aforementioned mechanisms are corrected, the club has decided not to participate in the meetings of the Executive Committee of the Argentine Football Association."

Despite the boycott, River's stance is nuanced, as they continue to support the AFA’s resistance against president Javier Milei’s push for "Sports Corporations". Like Tapia, River remain a staunch defender of the traditional non-profit civil association model. However, the club have taken advantage of this crisis to restate the demand for a more elite domestic league. Since 2013, the Millonario have lobbied for the Argentine First Division to be reduced from its current bloated 30-team format to a traditional 20-team league, believing the current structure dilutes the quality of the competition and hampers financial growth.

The immediate future of Argentine football remains shrouded in uncertainty as the club strike and the judicial investigation gather pace. River’s refusal to engage with the AFA Executive Committee places significant pressure on Tapia to reform his leadership style if he wishes to retain the support of the nation’s most successful club. For the players and fans, the focus remains on when professional fixtures will resume amidst the ongoing industrial action. With the government’s tax agency, ARCA, showing no signs of backing down, the AFA faces a dual battle: a legal fight for its survival and a political struggle to bring its biggest member back to the table.