Argentina’s players were already heartbroken after their 1-0 defeat to Spain in the 2026 FIFA World Cup final on July 19. But tensions between the two sides escalated after the final whistle, leading to a physical confrontation. Leandro Paredes was among those involved, reportedly grabbing Spain’s Eric Garcia by the throat and wrestling Gavi to the ground. Nahuel Molina was also involved in an altercation with Rodri. FIFA later handed both Argentinians lengthy suspensions and $90,000 fines. However, the Argentine Football Association challenged the punishments in the hope of securing reductions. Now, months later, FIFA has delivered its decision, with very different outcomes for the two players.
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On November 6, FIFA’s Appeals Committee partially accepted the appeal filed by the Argentine Football Association. It reduced Nahuel Molina’s suspension from seven matches to four and lowered his fine from $90,000 to $60,000. However, the governing body refused to reduce Leandro Paredes’ punishment, keeping his 10-match suspension and $90,000 fine.
The ruling also offered no relief to the AFA. The federation had received a separate $321,000 fine for several disciplinary violations during Argentina’s World Cup campaign. FIFA cited discriminatory chants and gestures by supporters, team misconduct and security-related breaches.
The governing body also ordered Argentina to play two home matches with stadium attendance limited to 50%. Part of the punishment, including one of the matches and $100,000 of the fine, was suspended on probation.
Unhappy with the latest outcome, the AFA has now announced plans to take the matter to CAS. In its November 6 statement, the federation said: “The next steps in defending the rights of the player and the AFA will be to request the grounds for the decisions and, with them, appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for a new review, as the AFA believes it has sufficient factual and legal grounds to pursue this appeal.” (translated from Spanish into English using Google Translate).
FIFA announced the original sanctions on August 21, after investigating the post-match incidents. Interestingly, Leandro Paredes and Molina were not the only ones punished. Argentina midfielder Thiago Almada received a one-match suspension and a $30,000 fine, while assistant coach Roberto Ayala was handed a three-match ban and fined the same amount.
Spain’s Gavi also received a one-match suspension and a $30,000 fine for his involvement. But Paredes was particularly unhappy with the length of his punishment and spoke out against it just days later.
Paredes had already made his frustration with the original punishment clear. Speaking to reporters on August 29, the Argentine midfielder called his 10-match ban “exaggerated” and questioned why Gavi had received only a one-match suspension. He said: “The strange thing is that Gavi was given a (date) and he’s the one who punches me in the chest.”
Gavi, meanwhile, had offered a different perspective shortly after the final. Speaking to reporters on July 22, the Spanish midfielder said, “I don’t think [Paredes] should be suspended,” he said. While acknowledging that the confrontation was not a good image for young fans, Gavi added that football could sometimes be “a bit more physical, more aggressive.” While the players had their own opinions about the incident, the AFA was also working to change how the suspensions would affect Argentina’s upcoming fixtures.
In August, the AFA requested permission for the players to serve their suspensions during international friendly matches instead of waiting for competitive fixtures. FIFA approved the request on August 27. This meant eligible friendlies could count towards the bans, along with official matches. The decision gave Argentina a chance to have their players serve some of their suspensions before returning to competitive action.
Interestingly, this is not the first time the federation has sought changes to FIFA’s disciplinary decisions. In February 2022, FIFA handed two-match suspensions to Emiliano Martínez, Cristian Romero, Giovani Lo Celso and Emiliano Buendía following the abandoned World Cup qualifier against Brazil in September 2021. All four players were based in England and had been in the UK within the 14 days before entering Brazil.
Brazilian health authorities accused them of failing to declare their recent travel history and violating the country’s COVID-19 quarantine rules. The incident also brought financial penalties for the AFA, which decided to appeal FIFA’s decision.
FIFA had fined the AFA CHF 200,000 for its failure to fulfill its responsibilities in relation to the match. After the federation challenged the decision, FIFA’s Appeals Committee reduced the fine to CHF 100,000 but left the players’ suspensions unchanged. Now, with the Paredes and Molina case, the AFA is once again challenging FIFA’s disciplinary action, this time preparing to take the matter to CAS.