Over 23 Million Football Fans Sign Petition Calling for Argentina's Ban From Future World Cups

One thing the World Cup never fails to deliver is drama — both on and off the pitch. While a new champion has been crowned, several incidents from the tournament are still making headlines. This year, one of those controversies even sparked an online petition that attracted millions of signatures from around the world.

By now, you've probably heard about what happened during the World Cup final between Argentina and Spain. No, we're not just talking about the 1-0 scoreline in Spain's favour, but also the explosive on-pitch brawl that broke out after the final whistle.

In an incident that was caught on camera, Argentina's Leandro Paredes was seen shoving and grabbing Spain's Eric Garcia by the throat before throwing another Spanish player, Gavi, to the ground. The altercation quickly escalated, involving several players and staff members before it was eventually broken up.

The brawl wasn't the only controversy involving the Argentine national team during this year's World Cup. The team was also heavily criticised by fans around the world following heated altercations with England during the semi-finals.

Adding to the scrutiny were claims of perceived referee bias in favour of Lionel Messi and his teammates, fuelling further debate among football supporters online.

The growing frustration and criticism eventually led to a global petition calling for the Argentine national team to be banned from future World Cup tournaments.

Image Credit: Argentina Out

Although the petition, titled "Argentina Out", closed during the World Cup final on 19 July, it garnered more than 23 million signatures from 170 countries in less than a week.

An Argentine supporter has launched another petition

However, that wasn't the only World Cup-related petition to gain global attention.

Following Spain's victory, an Argentine supporter named Gisela Sánchez launched another petition calling for the World Cup final to be replayed.

The online campaign alleges that the match was influenced by controversial refereeing decisions and calls on FIFA to review the performance of Slovenian referee Slavko Vinčić.

Image Credit: Change.org

According to the petition, several decisions made during the match had a significant impact on the outcome and deserve further scrutiny from football's governing body.

As of this writing, the petition has gained more than 100,000 signatures.

Featured Image Credit: The New York Times, The Star