Ассоциация футбола Аргентины (АФА) опубликовала ответ на обвинения в задержке передачи средств больнице Хосе М. Пенна в Байя-Бланка. В своем официальном заявлении, озаглавленном «Еще одна ложь», АФА выразила «абсолютное неприятие» того, что она определила как кампанию клеветы в СМИ. Из штаб-квартиры аргентинского футбола также распространили официальный comunicado from the Penna Hospital Directorate, which confirms that the funds raised during the charity match as part of the "Juntos por Bahía" campaign were transferred on time and in full. The transfers were made in various amounts at different times through the hospital's cooperative society. According to the document, the total amount of the collection was promptly reported and communicated publicly during a press conference in Bahía Blanca at the time of the handover. It is also clarified that part of the announced amount corresponded to services and operations that event providers did not charge the AFA for, such as police, logistical and sanitary operations, the ticket sales platform, sound, screens and other resources. These were counted as part of the total but did not involve money to be transferred. In this regard, the Directorate of the Penna Hospital stated that the situation "is completely settled" and took the opportunity to express its gratitude for the contribution, which it described as "vital" for the reconstruction of the hospital after the floods that affected the city. The official comunicado also includes a breakdown of the funds' allocation, with a total investment of 584,228,975.54 pesos applied to works and equipment in key areas such as the operating room, general repairs, neonatology, emergency room, therapy, childbirth and sterilization, among other sectors. Only the allocation of the last tranche received remains pending. Finally, the AFA reaffirmed its charitable commitment, emphasizing that the action was taken out of obligation and stressing that it was an initiative that, in its view, should have been led by public and governmental bodies in response to the emergency faced by the Bahía Blanca community.
