Football matches in Argentina suspended following assassination attempt on vice president

All football matches in Argentina have been suspended on Friday following Thursday night's assassination attempt on the country's vice president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

The Argentinian Football Association (AFA) made the announcement after the attack, which took place in Buenos Aires. Friday was declared a national holiday by President Alberto Fernandez, and the AFA said that all football activity had been suspended.

According to reports, the vice president was arriving at her home in the Recoleta neighborhood when a man "emerged from a crowd and pointed a gun at her head from close range." The pistol was reportedly loaded with five bullets and was triggered but didn't fire correctly.

"The Argentinian Football Association expresses its strongest repudiation of what happened with vice president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner," the AFA said in a statement. "We call on society as a whole, warning that violence of any kind is never the solution."

Per a report by ESPN's Alex Kirkland, three matches had been due to take place in Argentina's First Division on Friday: Patronato vs. Union, Rosario Central vs. Talleres and Lanus vs. Tigre.

According to a report by Kate Burlaga of The Athletic, Fernandez de Kirchner is on trial for corruption linked to public contracts awarded in the early 2000s but has denied the charges.