Argentina government sacked Julio Garro on Thursday.
Lionel Messi faced calls to apologize for racist chants made by Argentina's players.
It is unclear from the video if Messi participated in the chant on the team's bus after the Copa America final triumph over Colombia, per Idman.biz.
A derogatory verse in the song was: “They play for France, but their parents are from Angola. Their mother is from Cameroon, while their father is from Nigeria. But their passport says French.”
Midfielder Enzo Fernandez said on Instagram that he was truly sorry for the incident: “Getting caught up in the euphoria of our Copa America celebrations. That video, that moment, those words, do not reflect my beliefs or my character. I am truly sorry.”
“The national team captain must also come out to apologize for this case. The same AFA president. I think it is appropriate. It leaves us as a country in a bad position, with so much glory,” sports undersecretary Julio Garro said in radio statements.
Shortly after Garro’s statements were aired, Argentina President Javier Millei’s Office stated on X that: “No government can tell what to comment, what to think or what to do to the Argentine National Team, World Champion and Two-time American Champion, or to any other citizen. For this reason, Julio Garro ceases to be Undersecretary of Sports of the Nation.”
Garro soon apologized for his statement, saying that “offending anyone was never my intention, and that is why I have offered my resignation, although I will always be on the other side of discrimination in all its forms.”
Garro was appointed in his role as Sports Undersecretary in March this year.
Idman.biz
