Copa Argentina: an AFA official's blooper in the final stages of the draw went viral

The draw for the round of 32 of the Copa Argentina, held on Wednesday at the Ezeiza complex, was marred by a blooper that went viral in the middle of the ceremony: AFA Competition Manager Luis Silva suffered a technical problem with the microphones while announcing the clubs in the main draw. The episode, which quickly went viral on social media, surprised those present and made the Argentine Football Association's treasurer, Pablo Toviggino, laugh, whose reaction was recorded. The incident occurred in the last 20 minutes of the event, when Silva was listing San Lorenzo, Huracán, River, Boca, Racing, and Independiente as members of pot 1. At that moment, one of the two microphones on his lectern began to wobble, lost its cover, and was about to fall to the floor. With a look of annoyance, the presenter picked it up and placed it on the floor as a precaution. But this maneuver caused the second microphone to also fall while he was still crouched down. The simultaneous fall resulted in an unexpected silence in the broadcast and required the intervention of technical staff. While the sound was being readjusted, the cameras focused on the front row of the event and captured Toviggino's laughter. The malfunction was resolved in a few seconds, but the sequence quickly circulated on social media and became part of a draw that was already surrounded by suspicion due to organizational issues. “We continue after this technical incident,” Silva said, before resuming the event. Apart from this episode, the event was also hosted by commentator Julián Bricco and featured an audiovisual summary of the 2025 season, highlighting the last champion and fans from different provinces. AFA officials and representatives of the qualifying clubs were in attendance. At the opening, President Claudio “Chiqui” Tapia emphasized the federal nature of the competition and introduced “Rufo,” the new mascot, along with the sponsors joining the tournament. He also announced a new rule: for the first time, VAR will be used systematically from the round of 16 onwards, a leap forward from 2025. Among other teams, the draw determined that Boca will debut against Gimnasia y Esgrima de Chivilcoy and that River will face Ciudad de Bolívar. Both teams were placed on opposite sides of the bracket, which means they will follow separate paths until a hypothetical final. The rest of the procedure was carried out using drums that grouped the clubs by division and geographical proximity. The context of the blooper added another dimension because it occurred just hours after another event marked by improvisation: the draw for the 2026 Professional League Apertura and Clausura tournaments, which underwent multiple rescheduling, was not scheduled to be broadcast and had to incorporate cameras at the last minute following judicial raids linked to the Sur Finanzas case. This delay led to several schedule changes and a technical setup that was decided on the fly. In addition, the League's official website published errors and contradictory descriptions of the tournament format, including a title that mentioned “2026” and a confusing explanation of the number of games and the use of the “interzonal,” which had to be clarified later by the League's CEO, Francisco Duarte. There were also moments of improvisation on camera, with spontaneous interventions by press officer Miguel Ángel “Chiqui” Rubio and informal responses from Marcelo Delgado and Diego Milito, representatives of Boca and Racing."