Belgrano and Lanús starred in an unusual match at the Armando Pérez property, in Córdoba, for the date 6 of the 2026 Women's Clausura Tournament. And, although Las Piratas won 3-1 in the 90 minutes, an event occurred that completely distorted the match: the Córdoba team made six changes and Granate claims the points before the AFA.
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The match went on normally until the 42nd minute of the complement, when Mariana "Pomu" Sánchez sent the last two substitutions of the home team onto the field. By then, her team was already winning 3-1 thanks to goals from Danna Pesántez, Alaides Paz and Raquel Polich (Juana Wulff had scored the discount for Lanús) and the coach had already made four changes.
The first was at halftime, when Josefina Galarza came on in place of Pesántez. At 24 minutes into the second half, the first window arrived with one more change for the Córdoba team: Jazmín Puñi replaced Arianna Reche.
Just 9 minutes later, at 33, two other modifications arrived: Nicole Amaya and Florencia Ceballos entered instead of Betina Soriano and Raquel Polich. Until that moment, the Córdoba team had made four changes in two windows, so they had one more possibility of change left. However, at 42, two new modifications were made: Mayra Acevedo and Constanza Fulco replaced Alaides Paz and Milagros Vargas, respectively.
At the time it seemed that no one had noticed what had happened and the meeting ended normally. However, minutes after the match ended, Lanús took note and made a complaint to the AFA Disciplinary Court for what happened, something that was also reported by the main judge, Gabriela Coronel.
The AFA could give the match won 3-0 to Lanús: the background
Law 3 of the IFAB regulations states that "in official competition matches organized by FIFA, confederations or national football federations, a maximum of five substitutes may be used" and that teams "shall have a maximum of three opportunities to make substitutions", as well as "may make substitutions during half-time".
For its part, in the Regulations of the 2026 AFA Women's Championship it is communicated in article 16 that "in the 2026 TOURNAMENTS, in accordance with the provisions of AFA Bulletin No. 5773 of 05/28/20, the possibility of making up to 5 (five) substitutions per team during all matches of the Tournament is authorized, always in accordance with the provisions by
Circular 19/2020 of the INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION BOARD (IFAB) in the
temporary modification of Rule n°3".
Thus, it is evident that Belgrano committed a violation of the regulations, which could cost him a sanction.
The international background that excites Garnet
Although the AFA will have to wait for the AFA's resolution, Lanús's request has precedents: in identical situations where Rule 3 of the IFAB was broken, the courts did not hesitate to reverse the result and impose a 3-0 desktop:
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Wolfsburg in the German Cup (2021): had beaten Preußen Münster 3-1 on the field, but coach Mark van Bommel sent a sixth substitute onto the field in extra time thinking that the regulations allowed it (the IFAB establishes that the regulations of each competition must stipulate whether an additional substitute can be used if the match goes to extra time, "even if the teams have already made use of all permitted substitutions"). The thing is that in this competition it was not allowed, Münster protested and the German Federation ended up giving the match won 3-0 to the modest promotion team, leaving Wolfsburg out.
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Rome in the Italian Cup (2020/21): In the round of 16 against Spezia, the Roma coach made two changes together in extra time and added six changes in total, when he could only make five: although Rome had lost 4-2, the Italian federation sanctioned the match with a regulation 0-3 for improper alignment.
- Atlético Trinidad in the Sanjuanina League: in April 2025 Atlético Trinidad beat Alianza 1-0 in the 90 minutes, for matchday 6 of the San Juanina League at the San Juan del Bicentenario Stadium. In said match, the then coach of Trinidad, Juan Sosa, made six changes, for which Alianza claimed before the Disciplinary Court, which declared the match won 1-0 for the injured team. In addition, it was decided to provisionally suspend the arbitration panel.
Now the ball is in the hands of the AFA Disciplinary Court, which must issue a ruling in response to Lanús' claim. A priori, the antecedents favor Garnet.