Buenos Aires, December 24 (NA)— The AFA's Disciplinary Tribunal has considered the sanction imposed on Andrés Fassi, president of Talleres de Córdoba, to be fulfilled following the incidents with referee Andrés Merlos during a Copa Argentina match against Boca. The decision is positive news for the club's institution, which has fully regained its main leadership authority. According to information from the Argentine News Agency, Fassi had been sanctioned with a 24-month suspension, both for the confrontation with the referee and for attempting to halt an AFA assembly by filing a complaint with the General Inspection of Justice (IGJ), without first resorting to the sports bodies. The Tribunal considered this a violation of the statutes. In its ruling, the disciplinary body based its resolution on several points: the need to preserve sporting order and institutional authority, the fact that more than a year has passed since the episode occurred on September 7, 2024, and the public apologies made by Fassi himself. The Tribunal also recalled that the Disciplinary Code allows for the total or partial suspension of a sanction based on criteria of reasonableness and proportionality. The leader's apologies came during a press conference in September, where he acknowledged his mistake and described that episode as one of the most difficult moments of his life in football. In this context, Fassi also apologized to AFA President Claudio “Chiqui” Tapia and emphasized that institutions must always be above individuals. Following this gesture, Tapia accepted an invitation to visit Talleres' facilities and toured the club's infrastructure, highlighting the work done in the youth divisions. In this way, the lifting of the sanction not only marks the formal end of the punishment but also the conclusion of a conflict that had escalated to an institutional level within Argentine football.
