AFA must pay millions to a referee removed due to union affiliation

The Argentine Football Association lost a million-pessos trial with a SADRA referee and must pay him one million pesos for "unfair practice" and being vetoed by the president of the Argentine Referees Association (AAA), Federico Beligoy. In addition, he must be reinstated as soon as possible and will be able to referee again.
Maximiliano Salado Paz was marginalized by AFA for being part of another union. After many twists and turns, judge Viviana Dobarrio ruled that the AFA must pay him 1,000,000 pesos plus interest. On the other hand, they will pay almost 2 million more pesos in fees for the lawyers involved in the trial. "I started my career as referee. Since they didn't like my height, I dedicated myself to being an assistant referee. In 2019, I was refereeing in the First National with matches in Buenos Aires and good possibilities of upgrading until this problem came and they began to send me to Federal A. In 2021, I only refereed two matches and never received any other appointments," the referee said in statements to Clarin. And he added: "At first, as the change was so abrupt, it hit me very hard. I was so close to refereeing in the First Division and then arrived to nothing. I was part of a reduced group doing the pre-season matches and I had the dream of reaching the international level. It all took a long time due to legal issues". Labor Court No. 21 indicated that "the matches assigned to him to referee gradually decreased until they stopped granting him such tasks, a circumstance that according to the elements provided is linked to his affiliation to a specific union and that, according to the testimonial rendered, also affected other people affiliated with the said association, specifically SADRA".

Source: Minuto Uno