Enzo Fernandez’s racist chants targeting French players of African origin have diminished Argentina’s second-straight Copa America victory. After Fernandez’s chants from the Copa celebration went viral and invited the French FA’s wrath, he took to his socials and apologized. Argentina’s sports sub-secretary of Sport, Julio Garro, thought Fernandez’s apology was not enough. He stated that La Albiceleste skipper Lionel Messi should also step up and apologize for the sake of his country. However, Garro’s demand for Messi did not go well with Argentina’s President Javier Milei, whose action has raised more eyebrows.

Javier Milei quickly removed Julio Garro from the sub-secretary’s role, citing it was not his or any government official’s prerogative to tell Lionel Messi and others what to do. “The Office of the President reports that no government can tell what to comment, what to think or what to do to the Argentine National Team, World Champion and Two-time American Champion, or to any other citizen. For this reason, Julio Garro ceases to be Undersecretary of Sports of the Nation,” a post on the President’s office’s X account read.

The video Fernandez posted of the players celebrating their Copa America victory vs Colombia in a team bus had them singing a racist chant with many derogatory remarks against France’s players, especially France and Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe. The chant is from their World Cup victory against France in 2022. It is unclear whether Messi participated in those chants.

Besides demanding Lionel Messi’s apology, Julio Garro also insisted that the Argentina Football Association’s president should also express regret. He added that Fernandez’s racist chants were, “something that leaves us poorly as a country.” Anyhow, it is quite ambiguous if Messi would apologize for his teammates’ antics. Firstly, the Inter Miami star did not involve himself in the controversial act. Furthermore, with Garro’s sacking and the President’s office’s staunch support, Messi will probably not be involved in the fiasco.

Be that as it may, the Argentina team is far from off the hook. The French Football Federation(FFF) is firing back at Fernandez’s discriminatory behavior.

France will pursue a legal battle against Lionel Messi and Co.

The FFF confirmed in a statement that it will file a legal complaint with FIFA against Lionel Messi’s teammates over racist and discriminatory remarks. Meanwhile, Chelsea has already started an internal disciplinary proceeding against their record $120 million signing Enzo Fernandez for the racist remarks. Fernandez’s Chelsea teammate and France international Wesley Fofana condemned his act by saying it was “uninhibited racism.” Notably, Fofana and a few other Chelsea players of African origin unfollowed Fernandez on Instagram after the debacle.

Moreover, FIFA is also investigating the matter and is expected to start a disciplinary proceeding against Argentina players. Besides filing a complaint with FIFA, the FFF has also demanded a comment from the Argentina Football Association on the video that showed Fernandez and others singing racist chants during the Copa victory celebration. Elsewhere, Leo Messi’s ankle injury has aggravated and will take more time than expected to recover. Hence, the World Champions are now stuck in a perilous time, despite rejoicing a monumental win, two days back.