An Argentine football club, Newell’s Old Boys, has caused uproar by suspending six nine-year-olds for posing with a rival player, prompting criticism from World Cup-winning coach Lionel Scaloni

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]n Argentine football club has sparked outrage by suspending six nine-year-olds from training and stripping them of scholarships after they posed for a photograph with a professional player from a rival team.

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The incident at Newell’s Old Boys has ignited a fierce debate about sportsmanship and the intensity of football rivalries in Argentina.

The young boys, all enrolled in the youth academy of Newell’s Old Boys club (Lionel Messi’s boyhood team), had posed with Ignacio Malcorra of fierce rivals Rosario Central when he came to watch his son play in a tournament in March.

The children were reportedly wearing their Newell’s jerseys, which some interpreted as an act of disloyalty given the intense rivalry between the two first division clubs from Rosario, a rivalry known to have sometimes degenerated into fan violence.

Newell’s, however, denied that the children were being punished. In a statement, the club asserted that the measure was taken to protect them against “potential harassment.”

Despite the club’s explanation, the decision has drawn significant criticism. Lionel Scaloni, Argentina’s World Cup-winning coach and a former Newell’s player himself, publicly criticised the move.

“We should value that these kids wanted to take a picture with a first-division player,” he said at a press conference on Wednesday.

“If we want to eradicate violence, we must do the exact opposite: tell them to take the picture and, if their dream is to one day play in the first division, it doesn’t matter with” which team, he added, advocating for a more inclusive approach to youth football.

Newell’s president Ignacio Astore later stated that some parents had actually requested their children not play after receiving threats from other parents, suggesting an underlying pressure from the rivalry.

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Carlos Panciroli, coordinator of Newell’s football academy, who had initially defended the boys’ suspension out of “respect” for the Newell’s jersey, later conceded to La Capital newspaper that “maybe we made a mistake,” indicating a potential reconsideration of the club’s stance.