The Argentina team’s adventure at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar had a happy ending after the team led by Lionel Scaloni became champions by beating France in definition for the title. As well as the sporting glory achieved, the team was rewarded with a hefty cash prize for their efforts, although due to the current regulations of Argentina’s financial system, they won’t enjoy all that cash.
According to the Bloomberg portal, the 52 million dollars that the Albiceleste will receive (42 million from FIFA and 10 million from Conmebol) will have to be sold for conversion into the local currency at an exchange rate that would mean a significant reduction.
“The regulations are clear and indicate that the team must sell the dollars it has received from the prizes on the official foreign exchange market at a modest rate of 172.70 per dollar, half the value of the peso listed on the foreign exchange market. 324 per MEP dollar),” reports the relevant medium.
This decision would have been taken last Thursday during a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA) and would have set a maximum deadline of five days – from the moment the money was received – for the operation to be carried out. Bloomberg expects a loss of 7.868 million Argentine pesos (about $45 million).
Will Lionel Messi have a ticket with his face?
According to Ignacio Olivera Doll, journalist and author of the original article, the BCRA meeting also jokingly discussed the possibility of issuing a commemorative banknote for the Argentina national team. This practice is not unprecedented as commemorative coins were minted in Argentina in the middle of the 1978 World Cup.
In this discussion, one of the most resonant suggestions would have been to use the figure of Lionel Messi on the front of the 1,000 peso note, while the small scale image would be embossed on the back.