Shown the red card.
Argentina has handed US officials a roster of 35,000 people barred from soccer venues — among them 13,000 parents accused of falling behind on child support — in an effort to prevent them from entering World Cup stadiums when the Argentine national team plays in the United States.
National Security Minister Alejandra Monteoliva sent the database to the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and several international partner agencies ahead of Argentina’s scheduled matches on American soil.
“Those who are delinquent on child support payments will no longer be allowed to enter the stadiums,” Monteoliva said. “If you don’t meet your obligations, you stay out of the stadiums.”
The names were drawn from Argentina’s Tribuna Segura — or “safe seats” — system, which began in Buenos Aires in 2016 and became a nationwide program in 2018. The platform checks National Identity Documents at stadium gates to identify people sought by police or prohibited from attending soccer matches.
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Thousands of parents who had failed to keep up with child support payments were added to the database on May 13. Argentina’s government then formally shared the list with US law enforcement on June 11.
Although Tribuna Segura is used across Argentina, the United States does not currently operate a comparable stadium-screening system.
One US law enforcement expert said it may be time to consider adopting one.
“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.
