President Javier Milei went after the Argentine Football Association (AFA) and its president Claudio “Chiqui” Tapia after Boca Juniors and River Plate were eliminated from the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.

The FIFA Club World Cup (CWC) is an international football tournament gathering the best clubs from around the world. The 2025 tournament saw the competition expanded from its usual seven teams to 32 teams, with the two footballing giants as Argentina’s representatives.

However, neither made it past the opening phase — eliminated from the competition in the group stage despite going toe-to-toe with some of the world’s elite teams. It wasn’t enough for Milei, who took advantage of the situation to take a new jab in his feud with Tapia.

“No Argentine teams in the [CWC]. Brazil took four teams and the four are through. How long until we point out the failure of ‘Chiqui’ Tapia’s model?,” read a message shared by the president’s Instagram account, but also through those of Guillermo Tofoni, the businessman who helped the government push for the implementation of the private sports corporation (SAD for its Spanish initials) model in Argentine football, and the cartoonist Nik.

“It’s not up to the level of the Argentine crowds, who fill every stadium in the world,” the message added. “I insist, ‘Chiqui’ Tapia and his close circle hurt Argentine football.”

Milei went on to share several messages on the matter across his X account, with one highlighting how all four Brazilian teams had made it through to the knockout stage of the CWC. However, only one of them, Botafogo, is currently privately owned. The rest, namely Flamengo, Fluminense, and Palmeiras, are all non-profit member-owned associations.

The president’s comments reignite his long-standing feud with AFA and Tapia.

In December 2023, Milei’s presidential decree DNU 70/2023 made it legal for private sports corporations to compete in Argentina’s top division. The model was previously banned, because under Argentine law, only nonprofit civil associations were allowed to arrange physical activities like football matches.

Argentine football’s governing body disputed two articles in the decree that would’ve allowed it. In September 2024, it filed a request that was sustained by the Mercedes Federal Court, which kept the legal provision barring SADs in Argentina. Until the case is resolved, current legislation stands.