Argentina cracks down on football fans who tear up money to taunt locals

Argentina has announced it will punish foreign football fans who burn or tear up bank notes while attending matches in the country.

The practice has become a common way for fans of clubs from elsewhere in South America to taunt home teams about the value of the Argentinian peso.

The country has been in economic difficulty for years with soaring inflation.

Fans caught tearing up a peso bill will face up to 30 days in prison.

Tearing up money as a provocation has been used in particular by fans of clubs from Brazil and Chile.

Argentina's Agency for the Prevention of Violence in Sport said the practice violates existing laws that prohibit "incitement to quarrel" at a sporting event and "provocations that will disturb public order", local media reports.

Offending fans will be detained by local law enforcement and their clubs may also be punished if the problem persists, the body said.

Argentina's annual inflation rate has risen steeply in recent years and early this year passed 100% for the first time since the end of the hyperinflation of the early 1990s.

In June, it reached 115.6%, according to the country's statistics agency.

The country has also seen a dramatic fall in its exchange rate. In February, the central bank introduced a new 2,000-peso note after the value of the 1,000-peso note, previously the largest bill, fell to just $2.70 (£2.13) on the alternative markets.

When Argentina's current currency was introduced in 1992, its value was pegged at one US dollar, but that fixed rate was abandoned after a financial crisis that hit the country in 2001 and 2002.

The economic situation has also created turbulence in the country's politics. Last summer, three economy ministers succeeded one another in the space of four weeks.

In March 2022, the International Monetary Fund approved a 30-month bailout package whose final value is expected to be $44bn (£35bn).