The strike that began on Thursday, March 5, in Argentine football has the potential to be extended by another week. According to the Argentine News Agency (NA), this possibility arises due to the postponement of the summons for questioning for the president of the Argentine Football Association (AFA), Claudio 'Chiqui' Tapia, and his treasurer, Pablo Toviggino. As the strike action was planned to coincide with the days when the executives were due to give testimony, the postponement of these hearings opens the possibility that Argentina's most popular sport will be delayed by another matchday. A new possibility emerges in Argentine football, where the rush to conclude the Apertura Tournament to not interfere with the race for the 2026 World Cup is mixed with political messages. Having made and ratified the decision to halt the national sport, suspending the normal dispute of matchday 9 for the upcoming weekend and moving it to the first weekend of May, the AFA now has the chance to escalate its protest measure and also postpone matchday 10. This is also due to the change in the date of the questioning that Tapia and Toviggino must undergo. As the leaders of the sport's governing body changed lawyers, the new attorneys in the case requested a week's deadline to familiarize themselves with all the details of the case, a request that was accepted. Thus, the new date for the questioning coincides with the dispute of the tenth round of the Apertura, with the match between Huracán and River, among others, taking place on the same day, so the AFA will have to make a decision that could inconvenience the clubs, as matchday 9 was rescheduled for a week after the organization of the final matchday and only a week before the start of the playoffs, cutting down rest times at a moment when the players' physical condition will be most stressed, and the same would happen if the tenth matchday is also moved. The case that led to Tapia and Toviggino being summoned for questioning investigates the alleged misappropriation of more than $19.353 million corresponding to tax withholdings and social security contributions between March 2024 and September 2025. Additionally, both executives were banned from leaving the country, although the president managed to get a permit to do so to participate in official events, such as the upcoming World Cup in Canada, the United States, and Mexico.
