Argentine FA President Luis Segura "has said that no one has the authority to elect a new national team coach at the moment" and denied media reports out of Italy that Marcelo Bielsa has been named to replace outgoing Manager Gerardo Martino, according to ESPN.com Segura -- a member of FIFA's ruling council -- "was charged last month with fraud related to TV broadcasting rights" and is currently out of power after FIFA named a "normalization committee" to run daily affairs. Elections must be organized by July '17. Segura: "AFA is not looking for a coach today. No one has the power to elect a manager of the Argentina national team." He blamed team owners in the Argentine league "for problems currently facing Olympic team coach Julio Olarticoechea" regarding the recruitment of players, accusing the clubs of not releasing key players for the tournament, which runs from Aug. 5-21. Segura: "We will send a complete team to Rio. ... What is happening now is that the clubs are not helping at all. The clubs did a complete turn-around. The clubs from Argentina should allow their players to play because we cannot demand that the European clubs do that [release players]" (ESPN.com, 7/12).
STRIKE ACTION: The DPA reported Argentine refs on Thursday will "begin a strike" to demand delayed salary payments from the AFA. Argentine Referee Syndicate Secretary General Guillermo Marconi announced that the strike will take effect from Thursday at 6pm, putting Copa Argentina games scheduled for Friday and Saturday in jeopardy. The AFA owes officials payments from June as well as Christmas bonuses (DPA, 7/12).
NEARING AGREEMENT: CLARÍN reported the AFA's situation regarding the creation of a Superliga "is close to being decompressed." Representatives from both sides reached an agreement and are expected to agree "on Wednesday on a new tournament backed by the majority of the major clubs." To "gain the support of the second division, clubs in that tier will be given the money they are demanding: 1.5M Argentine pesos ($103,000) each" (CLARÍN, 7/12).
