The Javier Milei administration took another blow at local football clubs in its ongoing feud with the Argentine Football Association (AFA) by announcing that a special tax regime that benefits clubs will end in April 2025.

The government issued a decree published on Tuesday in the Official Gazette stating that a current scheme allowing clubs to pay less taxes on ticket sales and TV rights sales will end in six months. The regulation also allows clubs to pay less in employer contributions to football workers’ social security. 

According to the government, the existing system is outdated as current taxation fails to cover demands. They claim clubs racked up AR$7,000 millions in debt (US$7.2 million at the official rate, US$6 million at the MEP rate) between November 2023 and April 2024.

The government announced the creation of an 11-person committee tasked with discussing “regime change” to create a new system that is “efficient, sufficient, and sustainable.” The committee will include members of three ministries (economy, justice, and deregulation), the federal tax agency, and the national social security agency, among others. An AFA deputy and three football club representatives will also be on the panel.

An AFA spokesperson did not respond to a request from the Herald for comment.

Tensions between the Milei administration and Argentine football’s governing body are at an all-time high. Last Thursday, AFA president Claudio “Chiqui” Tapia was reelected until 2028 despite the fact that the Judicial Inspection Board (IGJ, for its Spanish initials) said on Wednesday that the election was illegal and warned of a potential takeover if it carried on.

Tapia has been at the forefront of AFA’s feud with the government over the legalization of private sports corporations (SADs, by its Spanish acronym) in Argentina, aiming to maintain the country’s current system of nonprofit civil associations.

A government intervention in AFA could spell disaster for Argentine football as the sport’s governing body, FIFA, is known to flat-out reject any maneuver of this kind. Last December, the Rio de Janeiro Court dismissed Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) president Ednaldo Rodrigues after finding irregularities in the election process. At the time, FIFA pointed out that under no circumstances would they accept government intervention in its member federations. 

Because of this, they wouldn’t recognize the authority of the interventor designated by the Rio de Janeiro Court. Exclusion of Brazilian national teams and all clubs from every international competition was also voiced as a potential consequence.

The situation came to an end when Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Gilmar Mendes overturned the decision by the Rio de Janeiro Court in response to a complaint filed by Brazil’s Communist Party.