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- Soccer fans caught burning and tearing up money in Argentina could face up to 30 days in prison.
- Inflation in the country topped 100% this year with soaring food prices driving the increase.
- The Agency for the Prevention of Violence in Sport says the act is an "incitement to quarrel."
Argentinian authorities are clamping down on soccer fans that mock the country's spiraling inflation.
Some soccer fans have taken to tearing up and burning bank bills at matches in Argentina as a way of ridiculing the value of the Argentine peso.
Argentina's Agency for the Prevention of Violence in Sport said that soccer fans caught damaging the bills could face up to 30 days in prison, local media outlet LT7 Noticias reported.
The agency said that the action was in violation of articles 10 and 14 of law 11.929, which stipulates that those who break the law "shall be punished with 15 to 30 days of arrest" for causing an "incitement to quarrel," per the report.
Fans from Brazil and Chile appear to be the biggest culprits of the trend, per the Telegraph.
A video published on X appears to show fans of the Brazilian team Corinthians burning a peso bill while taunting home fans. The team was playing Argentine side Newell's Old Boys in Rosario, Santa Fe on Wednesday.
The home country of the MLS's Lionel Messi has dogged rivalries with its closest neighbours, while it also suffers from a long-standing problem with soccer hooliganism, with fights often breaking out around big fixtures.
Despite the euphoria of winning the soccer World Cup in December, Argentinians have been struck by brutal inflation in recent years.
Inflation is now in triple digits, with the June reading showing prices had risen by more than 115% compared to the same month last year.
The country's currency has plummeted in value against the dollar, increasing the price of imports and further exacerbating the country's price crisis.
The country even issued a new 2,000 peso note in May to account for devaluation — its highest denomination bill available — although this is worth around just $7.