Reigning world champions Argentina, who have been the subject of much controversy recently, have now been slammed for a lack of black representation in their side.
Captain Lionel Messi and his national teammates have been on the receiving end of plenty of criticism following their 2022 FIFA World Cup celebrations, during which they were seen mocking France forward Kylian Mbappe in the dressing room, before Albiceleste goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez ridiculed the Paris Saint-Germain star again during the team's bus parade in Buenos Aires.
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With many feeling the team behaved in a classless manner during their celebrations, FIFA's Disciplinary Committee confirmed earlier this month that they had opened proceedings against the Argentine Football Association for potential breaches of the organisation's disciplinary code.
Now, during an episode of a popular podcast, Argentina's World Cup side has been slammed for a "lack of black representation".
"Shoutout to Messi and them," American media personality Joe Budden said on his Joe Budden Network podcast, per sportBIBLE.
"Argentina won, right? I caught the end of it and it was spectacular. They had a penalty-off. It was stressful.
"But black people was like 'that's strange'."
Budden's co-host then intervened, saying: "Ain't no black people playing for Argentina."
Budden then continued: "All the pictures of the Argentinian people and there ain't no black representation. So people thought that was peculiar.
"Based on what I've read, they had a nice black demographic. And now that demo is not being represented anywhere."
He proceeded to read into Argentina's history and spoke about the country's past with racism.
"Argentina's black population has been systemically removed and erased in a whitewash effort," he added.
"It is widely reported that the president of Argentina from 1868 to 1874 undertook a covert genocide that wiped out the Afro-Argentinian population to the point that by 1875 there were so little black people left that the government didn't even bother registering African descendants in the national census.
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"During his term, the president instituted highly oppressive and deadly policies to eradicate black people. He segregated the black community from European descendants, placing them in squalor with no decency infrastructure and healthcare.
"This genocide also constituted the forced recruitment of Afro-Argentines into the military, mass imprisonment for minor or fabricated crimes and mass executions."
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