Argentina's deputy sports minister, Julio Garro, has been fired after calling on Argentina's national soccer team captain Lionel Messi to apologize for a racist chant directed at France's players.

Axar.az reports that the press service of the Office of the President of Argentina published information about this on page X.

"The Office of the President believes that no government can tell Argentina, the world champion and two-time Copa America winner, what to say, what to think or what to do. For this reason, Julio Garro is no longer the deputy minister of sports," the report said.

It should be noted that on the night of July 15, the Argentine national team defeated Colombia (1:0) in the final of the America's Cup. After the game, Argentine midfielder Enzo Fernandes went live on Instagram from the bus of the national team. In the broadcast, Argentines were heard singing a racist song about the French national team. In particular, the song contains the following lyrics: "They play for France, but they're from Angola" and "Their mother is Nigerian, their father is Cambodian, but their passports say France." The Argentine fans sang the same song. The song also contains insults against Mbappe, the leader of the French national team.

The French Football Federation condemned the players and fans of the Argentine national team for singing this song. The federation said it has decided to contact the Argentine Federation and FIFA directly, as well as file a legal complaint against racially offensive and discriminatory comments. Fernandes himself said he was "sincerely sorry" for the video.

Garro said in an interview yesterday that he believes that the captain of the national team and the president of the Argentine Football Association should apologize. Garro later stated on the X page that he did not demand an apology from Messi, which would be disrespectful to the captain.