‘Kick Argentina out’: Why more than 10 million people have signed a petition against Messi’s team taking part in the World Cup
Even though the World Cup is coming to an end, the controversy over FIFA’s alleged favoritism towards Messi and Argentina remains unresolved.A petition has been launched online calling for the three-time champions to be expelled from the tournament ahead of the defending champions’ semi-final clash with arch-rivals England, the South China Morning Post reports. With a total of 48 teams participating, the 2026 World Cup is the largest World Cup in history and the first time it is co-hosted by three countries (Canada, Mexico and the United States).The petition was hosted by argentinaout.comCalls for Argentina’s disqualification went viral recently.As of Wednesday evening, the petition had garnered over 10 million (one crore rupees) signatures, surpassing the target of 10 million signatures.
“Kick Argentina out” petition
The petition’s organizers claim FIFA and match officials “actively support” Messi and Argentina.“It is clear that FIFA and the referees are biased against Messi and Argentina,” the petition reads. “Why should the rest of the world compete when the winner is already determined? Kick Argentina out of the World Cup and give everyone else a fair chance.”Accusations that global football’s governing body is favoring South American sides have intensified after Argentina’s opening match against Algeria. Critics pointed out that Messi, who captains the team and is expected to play his final World Cup at the age of 39, did not even get away with a yellow card for a foul, arguing that any other player could have been sent off.The controversy further intensified after Argentina’s round-of-32 match against Egypt. Although Messi missed a first-half penalty, the defending champion staged a dramatic comeback, scoring three goals in the final 13 minutes to overturn a 0-2 deficit.As the defending champions celebrated, Egypt described the result as “very unfair”.The North African side argued their goal was disallowed after a video assistant referee (VAR) review of a previous foul, while Argentina’s late winner was allowed to stand despite an alleged foul on captain Mohamed Salah. Egypt insisted VAR should have reviewed the incident and disallowed the goal, awarding them a penalty instead.Egypt coach Hossam Hassan did not back down after the game.“I will speak my mind, regardless of the consequences. It was obviously rigged and everyone saw it. Why invite everyone to the World Cup if they want them to win so much?” he said.Hassan further claimed that FIFA wants to keep Messi in the tournament.“FIFA promotes ‘fair play’ but we don’t see that on the pitch… Without these mistakes the results would have been different,” he added.Another referee decision went against Argentina ahead of the quarter-final against Switzerland and prompted further criticism, with head coach Lionel Scaloni dismissing the accusations, arguing that favoritism was “almost impossible” in the age of VAR.“There are people who don’t like to see Argentina win. These comments only motivate my team to play better football,” Scaloni said, adding that the accusations against Argentina were nothing new.“In 1986, they also said Argentina had an unfair advantage. This is nothing new for us,” he said, referring to Argentina’s second World Cup win in Mexico.“With VAR and all the technology we have today, it’s very difficult to help anyone. There’s no room for different interpretations.”Scaloni also blamed social media for amplifying the controversy.“But there is no favoritism. On the contrary, it is difficult to help anyone right now. I don’t know, maybe that was possible many years ago, I’m not sure, but today, it’s almost impossible,” he said.The winner of the semi-final between Argentina and England will face European champions Spain in the final. Spain’s 2-0 victory over 1998 and 2018 champions and 2022 runners-up France ended the team’s hopes of winning a third World Cup after going undefeated in the semi-finals.Spain and England are both vying for their second World Cup title and first in 16 and 60 years respectively.
