The Argentine Football Association (AFA) came out to respond to accusations of a delay in the delivery of funds to the José M. Penna Hospital in Bahía Blanca, through an official statement titled "Another Lie," in which it expressed its "absolute repudiation" of what it defined as a defamation media campaign. From the headquarters of Argentine football, they also disseminated an official comunicado from the Penna Hospital Directorate, which states that the money raised during the charity match held within the "Juntos por Bahía" campaign was transferred on time and in full, through various transfers of different amounts at different times, intermediated by 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 held in Bahía Blanca at the time of the delivery. Furthermore, it is 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, which were counted as part of the total but did not imply money to be transferred. In this sense, the Directorate of the Penna Hospital maintained 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 detail of the destination of the funds, 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, with only the allocation of the last transe received pending. Lastly, the AFA reaffirmed its charitable commitment, emphasizing that the action was taken without any obligation and highlighting 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.
