The president of the Argentine Football Association (AFA), Claudio 'Chiqui' Tapia, celebrated his ninth anniversary as the head of the entity, stating that he always 'gave his all' and took credit for the decision to appoint Lionel Scaloni as the head coach of the Argentine national team. According to the Argentine News Agency, Tapia defined his management as '9 years of total dedication' and assured that during this time he was pointed out and questioned. Claudio Tapia assumed the presidency of AFA on March 29, 2017, with the then president of Boca Juniors as vice president throughout his tenure, and is currently highly questioned, with cases involving money laundering and match-fixing. In an extensive post on his official Instagram account, Claudio Tapia celebrated reaching nine years as president of the Argentine Football Association, in a management 'with successes and with errors'. At the beginning of a long message, Tapia assured that it was a 'path full of changes and challenges', stating that when he took over AFA 'everything was very different', but he never changed his 'love for this House, for the National Team and for Argentine football'. In addition, Tapia proclaimed himself as the one who made the decision to place and keep Lionel Scaloni in charge of the Argentine national team as a coach, who won the World Cup 2022, the Finalissima and the last two Copa América, declaring that he was 'pointed out and questioned' for choosing a coach without experience. Finally, the president of the entity that governs national football made it clear that he made each decision 'with his heart', reproached that 'the silent sacrifice behind' successes is rarely seen, valued the work of the youth teams and concluded: 'I was and I am'. Despite stating that he has 'an entire country that believes' behind him and commenting that he is only at the beginning of his cycle as the association's top leader, Tapia is going through a turbulent period in his presidency.
