When the final whistle blew and Argentina’s players celebrated another Copa America triumph – the icing on the cake of a three-year spell of dominance in international football – few would have predicted that it would cause a rift to appear in government. But, just days and a racism scandal later, that is what appears to have happened.
Javier Milei is no stranger to diplomatic incidents. The libertarian ‘anarcho-capitalist’ has called Pope Francis an imbecile and Brazil’s president Lula a communist – but his vice president’s defence of (some) of the Argentina’s players’ use of a racist and homophobic football chant has proven to be beyond the pale.
Villarruel was also conspicuously absent from the signing of the ‘May pact’ earlier this month
The scandal began when Enzo Fernández, who also plays for Chelsea, posted a video on social media showing some of his teammates singing a song targeting the French team, which Argentina defeated in the 2022 World Cup final.
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