Resignations of Argentine Sports Leaders Amid Internal Tensions

Diógenes de Urquiza stepped down as subsecretary of Sports and head of the National High Performance Sports Agency (ENARD) after the sports portfolio was moved back under the Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Sports led by Daniel Scioli. In a letter to President Javier Milei, de Urquiza cited internal government disagreements and a lack of institutional backing, while noting achievements such as a restructured high‑performance scholarship system, infrastructure upgrades for athletes and the introduction of artificial‑intelligence tools for performance analysis.

Leandro Petersen resigned as the director of Marketing and Commercial for the Argentine Football Association (AFA) after nine years, amid a U.S. investigation that named him as a potential secret witness in a case involving alleged irregular contracts. Petersen said his departure had been planned for months, thanked AFA president Claudio Tapia and other executives, and highlighted the growth of the AFA’s sponsorship portfolio from six brands in 2017 to over 120 in 2026, with expansion into markets such as China, India and the Middle East.