“You can’t criticize referees a week before they start officiating, and you can’t judge anyone who has to make decisions in fractions of seconds,” Claudio “Chiqui” Tapia said on Radio La Red, delivering the Argentine Football Association’s answer to River Plate president Stefano Di Carlo’s attack on referee Nicolás Ramírez. The exchange, La Página Millonaria reported, marks the sharpest public clash yet between the AFA chief and one of the country’s most powerful club presidents following a Superclásico that ended with Boca Juniors beating River 1-0 at La Bombonera and the visitors down to nine men.
Di Carlo had called Ramírez’s performance “disastrous” and accused him of having “deliberately gone to complicate the match,” comments that came on top of a social media post in which he wrote: “When errors always favor the same side, they stop being errors. They have no shame and no limits. They are destroying Argentine football in plain sight.”
Two red cards, nine men, and a formal request to the AFA
The controversy stems from Sunday’s 1-0 defeat, the 15th round of the Torneo Clausura, decided by a Lautaro Di Lollo header. The first flashpoint came early, when Lucas Martínez Quarta was sent off for a challenge on Miguel Merentiel; Ramírez initially showed no red card but changed his decision after reviewing the play on the VAR monitor, operated by Silvio Trucco, Clarín reported. In the second half, Gonzalo Montiel received a straight red for a foul on Lautaro Blanco, leaving River to finish with nine players. Fenix951 noted that River’s complaints also included a possible second yellow for Leandro Paredes and an unawarded penalty on Nicolás Otamendi.
River’s response was formal as well as verbal. Di Carlo confirmed the club sent a written request to the AFA that Ramírez “never referee us again,” citing not just this match but the Superclásicos of 2024, 2025 and 2026, according to Diario El Día. The paper’s records show Ramírez has officiated River 22 times, with a record of 11 wins, 3 draws and 8 defeats for the Millonario, six players sent off for each side, and six penalties awarded to River against three for opponents. Against Boca specifically, his record stands at two wins and two defeats, the last two consecutive and both marked by disputed decisions.
Di Carlo sharpened his criticism on ESPN’s F12 with Mariano Closs and in interviews reported by Infobae and Clarín, saying Ramírez was “a very bad referee” who in his opinion “decidedly went to complicate the match.” He framed the issue as systemic rather than personal: “It’s exemplifying. It’s a lesson, from something that is wrong — the refereeing — to discipline club presidents,” he said, adding that if this can happen to River, “what is left for the rest?” He also pointed to a string of incidents beginning with “the famous penalty to Correa at Tigre’s ground” and said many other club presidents share River’s position, though they stay silent out of fear.
Interim coach Leonardo Ponzio echoed the mood after the match, telling reporters: “I don’t want them to give me anything, but I don’t want them to take anything away,” and calling for decisions to be measured with the same criteria for both teams, Fenix951 reported.
Tapia’s counter: referees are human, and everyone must collaborate
Tapia, speaking to Radio La Red, rejected the framing of deliberate bias. “The referee is a human being who can make mistakes. We all have to support them,” he said. “If we want better football, we all have to collaborate; the more we do, the easier their job becomes. We shouldn’t install things that don’t exist or predispose people badly.”
He broadened the argument to the league’s competitive balance, saying Argentine football should be enjoyed because “there are teams that have a chance to win the title that didn’t have that chance before — it’s not like other leagues where only a few win.”
Di Carlo said River had presented an extensive document of proposed changes that was dismissed at a recent Liga Profesional executive committee meeting, part of what he describes as a “constant aggression” against the club. He insisted his priority remains River’s restructuring — “90% of my time is in management” — and vowed the club would overcome the situation “playing football,” as River always has, Infobae reported.
Montiel’s three-match ban called unprecedented; River will appeal
The AFA’s Disciplinary Tribunal added another layer to the dispute by handing Montiel a three-match suspension for his red card — a punishment La Página Millonaria described as unprecedented, since no other player had received such a penalty for a similar offense. Ramírez’s report characterized the foul as “serious foul play” (juego brusco grave), the same description referee Andrés Merlos used for Santiago Salle of Sarmiento, who received a two-match ban. River plans to appeal the decision.
Questions readers are asking about the referee row
River demanded that Nicolás Ramírez never referee them again because of the disastrous refereeing in the Superclásico. Because the club says disputed decisions have recurred across three consecutive Superclásicos — 2024, 2025 and the latest edition — and Di Carlo formally asked the AFA by written note that Ramírez not officiate River again, El Día reported.
On Radio La Red he said referees cannot be criticized a week before matches and cannot be judged for split-second decisions, adding that everyone must collaborate rather than “install things that don’t exist.”
What punishment did Gonzalo Montiel receive, and why is it controversial? The AFA tribunal gave him three matches for the straight red against Lautaro Blanco; the sanction is considered unprecedented because an identical “serious foul play” report from another referee produced only a two-match ban.
Who else at River has spoken out? Club figures including Jorge Brito and former presidents Rodolfo D’Onofrio and Patanian posted open criticism of the refereeing on social media, and interim coach Leonardo Ponzio demanded equal criteria for both teams, Fenix951 reported.
The next confirmed step is River’s appeal of Montiel’s three-match suspension, while the club looks to move on from the 1-0 loss with the Torneo Clausura run-in ahead.
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