Why are fans booing Argentina athletes at the 2024 Olympics in Paris?

The Olympic Games: a peripatetic summery, sun-kissed celebration of sport that turns every lucky city into a melting pot of culture, peoples and healthy competition.

Or so it seems. This year, there is one standout country that are not getting the smiles from fans and are in fact receiving a villain’s welcome every time they step out onto the court/pitch/ring/[insert playing surface here]: Argentina.

But why are fans booing the South Americans at every opportunity? To answer that question, we need to have a look at recent goings on with the men’s football team.

Argentina racism incident causing boos at Olympic Games

Before we carry on, I’d just like to make something clear: the Olympics are generally void of the tribalism seen in domestic sports. There are rarely any fan incidents, and generally most people are happy to watch any country play any sport. The Olympic Games are the pinnacle of good will and love for sport and it is an event that truly does bring people together.

But we’ve seeing booing during Argentina’s football games, rugby matches and even a negative reaction to the national anthem being played in a volleyball tie. The reason for this is quite simple: just a few weeks ago, Argentina’s football players were videoed on their team bus singing a racist song about the French National Team.

The video, filmed by midfielder Enzo Fernández, received huge criticism on social media and the player only apologised after pressure was put on him by French government officials.

Argentina, you may or may not be surprised to hear, washed their hands of the whole affair, with the country’s conservative vice president, Victoria Villarruel, remarking that France’s “colonialist” history meant the country was in no position to censure Argentina.

As for Javier Milei, the far-right Argentine president, according to the New York Times, “removed a lawmaker who had called on Messi himself to apologise”.

“No government can tell the Argentine national team, world champion and two-time champion of Copa América what to comment, what to think or what to do,” Milei’s office said at the time.