“He wanted to be a referee, he chose the wrong profession. Luckily he didn’t get it, that’s why so much frustration. 1996, Atlanta,” he posted Claudio “Chiqui” Tapia in his X account, in a synthetic way and without offering more details. On social networks, several users maintained that the encrypted message was directed at the sports reporter Mariano Closs who recently questioned Argentine arbitration and the management of the AFA.
The enigmatic post links to the Olympic Games that were organized in that American city that year and that, according to some media, Mariano Closs in a conversation would have shared that he would have liked to dedicate himself to that branch of soccer. Additionally, Tapia shared an image of Mike Tyson to refer to a personal matter with the rapporteur“Only for experts”.
The ESPN sports journalist repeatedly questioned the functioning of the arbitration bodies and the management of the Argentine soccer matrix. In particular, Closs gave his opinion on Boca Juniors’ victory against Barracas Central in which the referee Nicolás Lamolina expelled Iván Tapiason of Chiqui Tapia, for an alleged offense committed.
A few days ago, the pending match on Date 12 of the 2025 Clausura Tournament was played, Barracas Central and Boca Juniors. The two teams met this Monday at the Claudio Fabián Tapia Stadium and, just 14 minutes into the match, Ivan Tapia was sent off, after two yellow cards, after committing a foul against Leandro Paredes on two occasions.
The controversial decision to show the red card to the Barracas Central midfielder generated discomfort against Lamolina. After this expulsion of Iván Tapia, Federico Beligoy -National Director of Refereeing of AFA- chose not to appoint Nicolás Lamolina for any match on date 14 of the local championship. Furthermore, in the same meeting between the two Buenos Aires teams from the southern zone there were various attacks on both sides. However, the referee designated for the VAR, Silvio Trucco, did not warn of these events.
The suspension of referee Lamolina, who was not chosen to work in any of the 15 matches on Date 14, bothered Mariano Closs. The sports journalist pointed squarely against Beligoy, as well as against the president of the AFA. “Lamolina was not even designated to take a side. When I saw that he was not called, I checked if the VAR referee (Trucco) was there. He will be VAR in River vs. Gimnasia,” Closs questioned and added: “Deduction, they cleaned him up for throwing out Tapia.”
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