A month after Spain beat Argentina to win the World Cup 2026, FIFA’s disciplinary committee announced international bans and hefty fines against three Argentine players and one assistant coach, and one Spanish player for a post-match brawl on July 19.
After the game, FIFA appointed a disciplinary and ethics prosecutor to investigate the clash between the players from both sides. Argentina midfielder Leandro Paredes, who grabbed Eric García by the throat and pushed Spain’s Pablo Martín Páez Gavira (Gavi) to the ground, has been banned from 10 international matches and fined $90,000.
Defender Nahuel Molina will have to pay the same and has been suspended for seven games. Argentine player Thiago Almada and Gavi will face a ban in one international game and pay a fine of $30,000 each. Argentine coaching staff Roberto Ayala was also handed a three-match suspension and a fine of $30,000 for striking Spanish player Dani Olmo.
Gavi, the only Spanish player to be sanctioned, has been suspended for ‘unsporting behaviour’ after he charged towards Paredes before being thrown to the ground. He will not be playing for Spain in the Nations League match against England on September 26.
The FIFA calendar for the national team schedules 10 games until June 2027. So, Paredes is likely to be excluded from the Argentina team for a year. These matches are friendlies, with no competitive ones scheduled at present.
The Argentine Football Association (AFA) was fined $110,000 during the World Cup when players carried a banner about the Falkland Islands after Argentina’s win against England in the semifinal. FIFA also ordered the AFA to spend $100,000 on anti-racism projects. FIFA disciplinary judges have also directed Argentina to play their next home game in a stadium with a limited capacity of 50 per cent.
However, the federation is expected to appeal. “The AFA legal department will, in a timely manner, request from FIFA the grounds for the reviewable rulings in order to file appeals with the governing body's appeal committee, while retaining the future option of appealing to the CAS as a final recourse,” the federation said in a statement to agencies.
Sanctions have always been part of the sport. Similar to Paredes, Croatia’s Josip Šimunić was suspended for 10 games in 2013. He was ruled out after using a megaphone to lead fans in a pro-Nazi chant used during World War II, after winning a World Cup qualifying playoff.
