No Soccer For You! Argentine Parents Behind on Child Support May Be Barred From FIFA Matches
Buenos Aires wants thousands of parents who owe child support barred from World Cup games.
Argentine parents who are behind on child support and are also hoping to attend a World Cup match, may find themselves in for a rough ride.
According to media reports, Argentine authorities have sent U.S. officials a list of roughly 13,000 parents — most of them fathers — who owe child support, asking that they be barred from attending FIFA World Cup matches.
“Those who fail to meet a responsibility as fundamental as feeding their children must face the consequences,” the Mayor of Buenos Aires, Jorge Macri, is quoted as having said. “If they do not provide for their children, they will not be allowed into the stadium.”
The State Department has not confirmed the existence of such a list, but it announced in May that it would begin revoking the passports of Americans with more than $2,500 in unpaid child support, expanding enforcement of a long-standing federal law.
Child support is an essential source of income for millions of American families, but a considerable share of what is owed never arrives. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, about 4.1 million custodial parents received cash child support payments in 2021, totaling $20.2 billion. Yet Census Bureau data show that many parents receive only a portion of what they are owed, or nothing at all. Women bear the brunt of the shortfall. Roughly four out of five custodial parents are mothers, meaning fathers account for the overwhelming majority of parents ordered to pay child support.
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Emma Haslett
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