Nansimo Cup: Paraguay alleges theft and Argentina is champion – 11/11/2023 – Sport

An unusual situation marked the decision of the futsal World Cup for people with dwarfism this Friday (10), played between Argentina and Paraguay, in Buenos Aires.

Four minutes before the end of the first half, the Paraguayans decided to abandon the match, citing robbery after Argentina scored three goals from free kicks — in the sport, each team can commit up to five fouls per half. After that, every other infraction converts into a free kick ten meters from the goal for the opponent.

The Paraguayans, who had opened the scoring, took the turn after committing the sixth, seventh and eighth foul in the first half. The three free kicks were converted.

After an internal debate, the players decided to leave the game, supported by the teams from Mexico and Brazil, who watched the match from the stands.

They only came back to thank their fans and left the court again. Some Argentines tried to convince them to return to the match, without success.

According to the Argentine newspaper “Olé”, the tournament organizers even offered to change the refereeing team to the Paraguayans, who did not accept the proposal and maintained their decision to leave the final.

Paraguay’s goalkeeper, Eduardo Martínez, said that the team decided to stop playing because “the robbery we suffered is very obvious. The ball hit my teammate in the face and they called a foul as if it had been a hand [se referindo à terceira falta convertida em tiro livre]. It can not be. We won with race and will, not by stealing”, he said, according to” Olé “.

The World Cup coordinator, Silvia Rojas, said that the organization offered the Paraguayans options to return to the court, but was unable to dissuade them from their decision.

“We tried every way. We offered to change the refereeing team. We offered to start the match again, with 0-0 on the scoreboard. We cannot tell them ‘keep the title’, because that would be unfair. I am very embarrassed. I apologize spectators”, he said, in a statement also reproduced by “Olé”.

The organization declared the Argentines champions, but there was no award ceremony. The accusation of theft by the Paraguayans continued on social media, with the sport’s federation complaining a lot about the conduct of the match.

Brazil also competed in the World Cup. He was eliminated precisely by Argentina, in the quarter-finals, after losing 2-0.