Security Minister Patricia Bullrich has 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. 

The move comes amid an escalating dispute over a recent decision to allow visiting fans at games.

“If we want to have away fans on the stands, we need an AFA that leads by example, not directors who behave like barrabravas,” Bullrich wrote on X. 

Her comments were in response to a post by Toviggino calling Chief of Staff Guillermo Francos a “yellow-toothed little man” and stating “I WISH you a VERY HAPPY AND SAD ENDING…SOON!” 

Bullrich added that Toviggino should withdraw the insult “or face the consequences,” which would involve restricting his admission to “the relevant places.”

Francos said on Sunday that the decision to allow visiting fans back on the terraces in parts of Argentina was politically motivated. Away fans have been banned from Argentine football since June 2013, when Lanús fan Javier Gerez was killed near the Estadio Único in La Plata, ahead of a game between the Granate and Estudiantes.

“You’re wrong, little man of the yellow teeth,” was the AFA treasurer’s retort. “If [AFA President Claudio “Chiqui” Tapia] and I played a political role, I assure you [Peronist Partido Justicialista] would have less to argue about on its candidate lists.”

He then listed the Argentine men’s national football team’s achievements in the eight years since he and Tapia had taken the helm at the AFA.

Argentine football’s governing body and the Milei administration are in a long-standing conflict. Milei’s December 2023 mega-decree sought to allow private sports corporations to compete in Argentina’s top division, something the AFA is vehemently opposed to. The case is working its way through the courts, with an injunction stopping the decree from going into full effect.

The AFA treasurer’s reply got Bullrich involved.

“Francos shared his view […] and Toviggino, who I know nothing about, replied like a mobster,” said Bullrich, adding that “those who encourage violence shouldn’t be allowed in stadiums.”

For his part, Francos hinted at corruption at Argentine football’s governing body, saying he’d “check if the character who called him ‘yellow-toothed’ had green fingers.”