New bid at AFA presidential election put back to next year

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – The Argentine Football Association presidential election was postponed until next year after it was blocked by a civil court judge on Thursday.

The judge acted on an injunction presented by a supporter of interim president Luis Segura’s rival, entrepreneur and television producer and presenter Marcelo Tinelli, claiming AFA statutes required the organisation’s executive committee to rule on a new date and time to convene the Assembly for an election.

Segura had called the election for Friday after it was botched earlier this month when an extra vote cast by the 75-man AFA Assembly produced a 38-38 tie.

Tinelli’s side want an overhaul of the AFA which was ruled for three and a half decades by Julio Grondona, whose name has been implicated in the FIFA corruption scandal that has brought down around two dozen top football executives, the majority Latin American.

The AFA’s first democratic election in 36 years on Dec. 3 was suspended in embarrassing circumstances when the count revealed an extra ballot with neither side knowing where the blame lay.

(Writing by Rex Gowar; editing by Justin Palmer)