The Argentine Football Association (AFA) released a statement on Tuesday denouncing the changes made by the government to the Argentine clubs taxing regulations. 

On Monday, the Milei administration announced via the Official Gazette a taxing reform which raises the rate from 7.5% to 13.06% and adds a temporary additional charge of 5.56% for one year, totaling 18.62% of the gross amount collected by the clubs.

The AFA took aim at the government, saying that after claiming they wished for a compromise, they withdrew from the conversation.

“The 939/24 decree established a committee, where AFA and clubs were represented, to discuss the reformulation of taxing regulations to make them efficient, sufficient and sustainable,” read the statement. “After keeping the meetings, to which our representatives never failed to show up, […], we were told the only requirement was ‘that the numbers work out’, and it was requested we present a deficit-free project.”

The AFA claimed they presented a project where clubs were taxed not on ticket sales, TV rights, and player sales but on salary statements for the entire club operation, which according to them was a “more just system.” They also allegedly proposed moving the rate from 7.5% to 8.5%, which according to their calculations covered the deficit.

“Having learned this, the State did nothing, allowing the 939/24 decree to derogate the 510/23 decree [under which clubs currently operate],” reads the statement, adding that after that AFA filed for a judicial motion to keep the current rates in place, which was granted.

According to the AFA, the government “is only interested in asphyxiating the non-profit civil associations clubs to allow private sports corporations — SADs for their Spanish initials to allow the entry of ‘hot money’ to do business with our clubs and the players developed in our academies.”

The statement also argued that, unlike with business under the general regime, all workers in football are under a contract, with paid time off, health insurance, and other benefits. They also complained that businesses who regularly pay their workers informally were recently granted a debt waiver, and financing that would’ve allowed them to mark off 90% of the debt.

According to the government, the measure aims to bridge a gap of nearly AR$20 billion in the system, which affects the “payments and contributions destined to the financing of the Argentine Integrated Social Security System,” and other previsional systems.

It comes as the latest chapter in a long war between the AFA and the Milei administration, one that has largely turned around the government’s aim of establishing the private sports corporations model in Argentine sports.

On July 23, Security Minister Patricia Bullrich threatened to bar Argentine Football Association (AFA) treasurer Pablo Toviggino from football matches, accusing him of making a death threat against Chief of Staff Guillermo Francos.