23 million sign petition to expel Argentina from the World Cup

By Breaking Belize News Staff (HP): While Belize spent the World Cup draped in blue and white, much of the watching world was signing something remarkable: an online petition demanding Argentina be permanently expelled from the tournament, which amassed a staggering 23,316,108 signatures and came within a million of the largest petition in recorded history.

As reported by Euronews and Goal, the petition, titled Argentina Out, was launched during the tournament and accused FIFA and match referees of being “biased toward Lionel Messi and Argentina.” Its text asked, “Why should the rest of the world compete when the winner has already been decided? Kick Argentina out of the World Cup and give everyone else a fair chance.”

The organisers set a target of 5 million signatures. The final count blew past it more than four times over, drawing signatures from some 170 countries, reportedly in under a week, and closing just shy of the Guinness World Record of 24,319,181 held by the 1997 Jubilee 2000 campaign for poor nations’ debt relief.

The fuel for the fire was the string of refereeing controversies that dogged Argentina’s run, most notably the round of 16 escape against Egypt, which drew bias accusations from the Egyptian camp at the time. The champions’ ill-tempered final against Spain added its own disputed moments, though notably in both directions, with Argentine players escaping cards for challenges many felt warranted them, while Spain had two goals chalked off before their extra-time winner stood.

The essential facts, however, deflate the conspiracy at the petition’s heart. FIFA never responded to the campaign, which had no effect on any decision. And Argentina, the team whose victory was supposedly “already decided,” lost the final 1-0 to Spain. The organisers acknowledged as much in their parting message when the petition closed: “FIFA ignored us, but Spain kept its promises, thank you Spain.”

The episode completes a strange symmetry of futile petitions. As Breaking Belize News reported, Argentine fans launched their own Change.org campaign after the final, gathering over 80,000 signatures to demand a replay over the referee’s performance. Twenty-three million signed claiming the officials favoured Argentina; eighty thousand signed claiming the officials sank them. Both changed precisely nothing.

Meanwhile, one genuine process is underway: FIFA has confirmed an investigation into the altercation between players after the final whistle.

For Belize’s Albiceleste faithful, the petition is a bitter curiosity, proof that the team this country adores had become, in much of the world’s eyes, the tournament’s villain. Twenty-three million signatures could not keep Argentina out of the World Cup. In the end, only Spain managed that.

What do you make of it, Belize, fair frustration or global pile-on? Comment below.

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