Argentina's football association fired Edgardo Bauza as coach of the crisis-hit national team as it struggles to qualify for next year's World Cup, the head of the body said Monday.

The Argentine FA, lacking proper leadership since 2015 and fearful its national team might not reach the World Cup finals without banned captain Lionel Messi, elected a third-tier club chairman and former roadsweeper as its president on Wednesday.

The Argentine FA, lacking proper leadership since 2015 and fearful its national team might not reach the World Cup finals without banned captain Lionel Messi, elected a third-tier club chairman and former roadsweeper as its president on Wednesday.

Argentina captain Lionel Messi has protested his innocence after being handed a four-match ban for abusing an official, insisting his insults were aimed "to the air".

Lionel Messi's four-match international ban for swearing at an assistant referee was "unfair and totally disproportionate", his Spanish club Barcelona said Wednesday.