Leandro Paredes could be back in action this week, just days after the Argentina star’s despicable behaviour at the World Cup final. The midfielder was booked in the 52nd minute and was fortunate to avoid being sent off before the end of the match amid his team’s cynical tactics.
Moments after the final whistle, he disgraced himself by attacking Spain players as they celebrated. Paredes shoved Eric Garcia in the throat and threw Gavi to the ground. It was incorrectly reported on FIFA’s information system that Paredes had been shown a red card by Slavko Vincic for his attack on Garcia. The dismissal was deleted shortly afterwards, with the governing body confirming that no disciplinary action was taken at the time, although an investigation into the disgraceful scenes has been launched amid calls for Paredes and his team-mates to face bans.
As the fallout continues, Paredes has already returned to his club, Boca Juniors, who on Friday face O’Higgins in the Copa Sudamericana, South America’s second-largest continental club competition behind the Copa Libertadores.
Despite playing almost 700 minutes at the World Cup, the 32-year-old could play in the game. There are question marks about his participation but they have nothing to do with his post-match conduct in New Jersey.
Boca are weighing up whether to include the midfielder, who played through a rib injury during the tournament. Reports in Argentina say Paredes is desperate to play as he looks to put Sunday’s defeat behind him as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, FIFA have been urged to take a stand against the whole Argentina team for their behaviour after the final. Former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, who now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs, told Football Insider that FIFA risk losing credibility unless they take strong action against the behaviour of Lionel Scaloni’s side.
He said: “The expectation will be for very serious punishments. I mean, this was the showpiece of world football, and they brought it into disgrace.
“There’s just no defence for it. And it should be some type of serious World Cup ban or international football ban in some way. It’s just clear to me that they brought the game into disrepute.
“The whole [Lionel] Messi story doesn’t vindicate it in any way. I just think they should have the book thrown at them. But whether FIFA will or not, we’ll have to wait and see.”