Red card!

Argentina has sent a list of 35,000 banned individuals — including 13,000 deadbeat dads who owe child support — to US authorities to keep them out of World Cup stadiums while their national team plays on American soil.

Argentine Minister of National Security Alejandra Monteoliva shipped the database to the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and a group of international agencies ahead of Argentina’s matches in the US.

“Those who are delinquent on child support payments will no longer be allowed to enter the stadiums,” she said. “If you don’t meet your obligations, you stay out of the stadiums.”

The list comes from Argentina’s Tribuna Segura — or “safe seats” — database, launched in Buenos Aires in 2016 and formalized as a national program in 2018. The system scans National Identity Documents at stadium entrances to flag anyone wanted by police or otherwise banned from attending soccer matches.

Thousands of parents who defaulted on child support were added on May 13 to the database. On June 11, the Argentine government formally transmitted the list to US law enforcement.

While the Tribuna Segura program is used nationally in Argentina, no similar program exists in the US 

One US law enforcement expert suggested maybe that should change. 

“I think it’s a valuable tool,” said Michael Alcazar, a former NYPD detective and adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “People normally have their guards down when they’re attending sporting events… and you could probably track and place into custody many offenders that way. 

“As long as our court system is good with it.”

From 2023 to 2025, the Tribuna Segura database identified over 1,100 people with outstanding arrest warrants across over 1,300 matches, Argentine officials said.