GENEVA (AP) \u2014 As FIFA investigates Argentina\u2019s conduct after the World Cup final, Spain coach Luis de la Fuente has described the incidents as \u201cintolerable and unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n
FIFA asked one of its disciplinary prosecutors Monday to report back on testy on-field confrontations after Spain\u2019s 1-0 win in extra time Sunday to dethrone the defending champion.<\/p>\n
Argentina midfielder Leandro Paredes physically tangled with Spain players Eric Garcia and Gavi, and Spain captain Rodri was hit in the stomach as he ran past Argentina defender Nahuel Molina.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt cannot be allowed,\u201d De la Fuente told Spanish public broadcaster TVE on Thursday, adding he did not see the incidents at the time while \u201ccelebrating with other people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn any case, I find it intolerable and unacceptable from players of that caliber, whom I had been praising in the days before and who have a magnificent coach,\u201d the Spain coach said.<\/p>\n
FIFA has given no details of the remit for its investigator, or if witness statements could be sought from Spain players and staff.<\/p>\n
Argentina assistant coach Roberto Ayala apologized Wednesday for his confrontation with Dani Olmo, which he described as a shove and not a punch.<\/p>\n
De la Fuente praised his players in the TVE interview for how they handled the situation at MetLife Stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to highlight our behavior in the face of that kind of aggression and provocation,\u201d the coach said. \u201cOur players always kept their composure and behaved like true professionals.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Spain squad stood in a guard of honor for Argentina players walking to the podium to get their medals from U.S. President Donald Trump. Minutes later, when Rodri lifted the trophy, most of the Argentina squad turned their backs on the ceremonial moment.<\/p>\n
FIFA disciplinary rules allow a special prosecutor to \u201crequest the opening of disciplinary proceedings and propose that disciplinary measures be imposed on member associations, clubs and individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n
FIFA gave no timetable for any cases, and it is unclear when any potential bans for Argentina players would apply as the team does not have competitive games scheduled in the coming months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GENEVA (AP) \u2014 As FIFA investigates Argentina\u2019s conduct after the World Cup final, Spain coach Luis de la…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60139,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4027,939,194,927,728,23702,2042,1562,1558,6854,24395,14716,17,24394],"class_list":["post-60138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-spain","tag-argentina","tag-dani-olmo","tag-donald-trump","tag-eric-garcia","tag-gavi","tag-leandro-paredes","tag-nahuel-molina","tag-package-100502-member-choice-sports-option","tag-product-30599-ap-sports-news-s-wire-only","tag-product-42059-world-cup-text","tag-roberto-ayala","tag-rodrigo-hernandez","tag-spain","tag-world-cup-fifa-argentina-investigation-delafuente"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}