An online petition calling for the permanent exclusion of Argentina’s national football team from the FIFA World Cup has attracted more than 23 million signatures from people in around 170 countries. The petition accuses FIFA and match officials of favouring Lionel Messi and the Argentina national team. Supporters argue that if the tournament’s outcome is perceived to be predetermined, the competition loses its credibility, and that excluding Argentina would provide a fairer opportunity for other teams. According to the organisers, the petition has so far received 23,316,108 signatures, far exceeding its original target of five million and placing it among the largest online petitions ever launched. The current record is held by the Jubilee 2000 campaign, which gathered more than 24 million signatures in 1997 in support of cancelling the unpayable debts of the world’s poorest countries. Note: The claims made in the petition reflect the views of its organisers and signatories and do not, by themselves, establish evidence of wrongdoing by FIFA or match officials.
