Economy Minister Sergio Massa, Tourism and Sports Minister Matías Lammens and AFA president Claudio Chiqui Tapia gave a press conference following the announcement that Argentina will co-host the 2030 FIFA World Cup. The news was broken by Alejandro Domínguez, the president of the South American football federation Conmebol, and later confirmed by FIFA in a press release on Wednesday.

“It was hard to compete (against other host candidates),” Tapia said, “from the economic standpoint, but also from a vote-gathering side. In South America we’re only 10 countries, but we’re worth a lot and we work a lot.”

The AFA boss admitted FIFA president Gianni Infantino had promised Argentina would be one of the hosting countries, and was happy that he kept his word.

“The opening game puts the eyes of the world on South América,” said Lammens, who insisted the continent would host more games, despite FIFA only confirming the three inaugural games so far, with the rest of the tournament set to be played in Spain, Portugal and Morocco.

Lammens thanked Massa for his support in reinstating the 1212/2003 decree, which allowed for a special taxing regulation for clubs and was repealed by former president Mauricio Macri’s government in 2019. This increased tax rates paid by clubs but also broadened their reach from ticket sales, TV rights, and player sales to include any sponsorships, social security payments, club-run schools, and even prize money by AFA.  According to the Sports and Tourism minister, the repealed regulation will be back in place in the coming days.

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“The Albiceleste jersey can open any door for us,” said Massa. “Football has given us the chance to recover some self-esteem, against those who insist we are a shithole country. This is the demonstration that we can shine and occupy a place of importance.”

With Qatar reportedly spending US$220 billion to build and sustain the necessary infrastructure for the 2022 tournament, the matter of costs was touched upon, with Tapia insisting the selection as host will bear no cost to Argentina.

“Not only will this cost Argentina nothing,” said Massa, “but it will also bring revenue. We know every visitor who comes to watch any international footballing event spends at least over US$2000 in the country. When you measure the cost of building infrastructure against the revenue, the benefits are big. If we have to build a stadium, we’ll do it.”

This will be the first time Argentina has hosted any World Cup games at the elite level since the 1978 World Cup, held during the last military dictatorship and under severe suspicion.

“We had a very worthy World Cup-winning team in 1978, ” said Tapia, “but also some very ugly things happened and football was used to cover them. This announcement makes me very happy because I know how much our people have suffered and this will be the World Cup of democracy.”

The economy minister and the AFA president highlighted each other’s work.

“It’s key that the government understands the social role of football clubs,” said Massa, “which often support and even replace the state’s responsibility with every child, and that’s something [Lammens] and [Tapia] are promoting.”

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