Argentine Football Association (AFA) president Claudio Tapia says that national team players will end the media boycott that has been in place since November.

Lionel Messi announced following a postmatch news conference last year that he and the rest of his Argentina teammates would no longer speak to the press while on international duty as a protest against perceived media mistreatment.

According to the players, the Argentine press made numerous false allegations against them, including a report claiming Ezequiel Lavezzi smoked marijuana after a training session.

The Argentina players continued with their self-imposed media silence in March, with then-coach Edgardo Bauza unable to convince them to change their stance.

Tapia, who is hoping to bring a new direction to the AFA since being elected as president on March 29, told Fox Sports Argentina during the unveiling of the new Superliga Argentina: "The players will speak."

However, the AFA chief did not say when the national team players will break their silence.

Argentina players have been refusing to speak to the media since November. Suhaimi Abdullah/Getty Images

"The players want to be close to the people but were mistreated at the time and they did not deserve it," Tapia said. "In this new chapter of Argentine football, they are going to be important and the national team has to get close to the people and vice-versa. The national team is a priority for the AFA."

Tapia, meanwhile, has praised the work done so far by national team coach Jorge Sampaoli and says the AFA made the right choice to hire the former Chile boss.

After months of negotiations, Sampaoli left La Liga side Sevilla in June to replace sacked Bauza at the Argentina helm.

Sampaoli recently travelled to Europe to meet with Argentina players and discuss the upcoming World Cup qualifiers, and last week met Messi in Barcelona.

"Never have we seen someone so committed to his work," Tapia said in reference to Sampaoli. "We have the best players in the world and the best coach, I'm convinced."

Tapia is "optimistic" ahead of the upcoming World Cup qualifiers. Argentina are fifth in CONMEBOL qualifying -- the intercontinental playoff spot -- with four games remaining, though they could move up to fourth past Chile if Bolivia win their appeal against an ineligible player sanction as expected.

They resume their qualifying campaign at Uruguay on Aug. 31, Sampaoli's first official game in charge, before taking on Venezuela in Buenos Aires a week later. Only the top four sides will qualify directly for the 2018 tournament that is to be staged in Russia.