The Minister of Economy Sergio Massa and the President of the Argentine Federation (AFA) Claudio Tapia, have signed the financial and administrative guarantees “requested by Fifa so that we can be host” of the Under-20 World Cup , said Mr. Tapia.
A “technical visit” by a committee of the International Football Federation (Fifa) was due to end on Monday to supervise the stadiums where the matches would be played as well as the training camps, he continued in a brief video. issued by the Ministry of the Economy. “We hope that in the next few hours today, or tomorrow (Tuesday), we can officially be the seat of the next Under-20 World Cup,” concluded the AFA president.
The Under-20 World Cup, which features 24 teams, was scheduled to be hosted by several cities in Indonesia from May 20 to June 11. But at the end of March, Fifa withdrew the organization, due to a political imbroglio which prevented the holding of the draw. She did not initially advance a more precise explanation than “the current context” and evoked possible “sanctions” with regard to the Indonesian football federation (PSSI).
The announcement came after the governors of two provinces in the Indonesian archipelago wanted to ban the Israeli team from participating. Israel qualified for the U20 World Cup for the first time. Indonesia and Israel do not have diplomatic relations and the Southeast Asian country, which has the largest Muslim population in the world, is a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause.
In the days following the withdrawal of the tournament to Indonesia, Argentina had applied, and the president of Fifa Gianni Infantino had spoken of a “very strong candidacy” of the South American country. “It is the world champion country” in title, he had commented. Ironically, Argentina’s Under-20 side, coached by former Albiceleste star Javier Mascherano, failed to qualify for the World Cup but are now set to reinstate it as a country- host, if the global body confirms the assignment.
