Europol's investigation into match-fixing has raised new questions about an under-20 friendly between Argentina and Bolivia in December 2010.
The game, played in the Córdoba, was mentioned in the European investigators' inquiry. It raised eyebrows at the time after the Hungarian referee let play continue for an extra 13 minutes.
The referee, Lengyel Kolos, declined to comment, but the former Argentina Under-20s coach Walter Perazzo said the lengthy injury time, which allowed his team to score a late, match-winning penalty, had prompted questions on the home team's bench.
"We were surprised that the match was extended," he said. "At the time, a lot of us wondered if the referee was maybe used to a different style of football."
Perazzo, who now coaches a second-division team in Argentina, said that he saw no other questionable decisions during the match. "The penalty was a penalty, the strange thing was the 13 minutes."
Marco Sandy, the BoliviaUunder-20s coach, declined to comment on the European investigation, but in an interview soon after the match he said the team had experienced "strange situations" with the same referee in other games.
Asked whether he thought the match might have been subject to fixing, Sandy said at the time: "It would be a good thing if they investigated it, because [this is] bad for the sport."
Reports after the game questioned several calls made by Kolos and his two linesmen, including the referee's decision to disallow a second-half Argentina goal and order a penalty against Bolivia in the final moments of injury time. Police had to accompany Kolos off the pitch at the end of the game as angry Bolivian players hounded him.
Bolivia's football federation welcomed news of the European investigation, the general manager, Alberto Lozada, quoted as saying: "Bolivia was the victim … in that game in 2010, it was obvious that there was a clear intention to hand victory to Argentina."
Argentinian officials dismissed links between the 2010 match and the investigation, the spokesman Ernesto Cherquis Bialo saying: "This issue doesn't exist for the Argentine Football Association … I've got nothing else to say."
A source at the association, who asked not to be identified, said the issue "didn't even get mentioned in the last meetings of the executive committee".
Europe's top clubs, meanwhile, have agreed to expel members who are proven to have fixed matches. The 200-member European Club Association, meeting in Qatar, approved the measure that also allows it expel clubs for doping or racism.
The ECA's general secretary, Michele Centenaro, said the clubs felt it was "their duty" to take tougher regulations to demonstrate it is a "responsible organisation".
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