The Finn suffered the injury after falling while cross-country skiing in Lapland on Wednesday, landing heavily on his shoulder, and will not participate in south America in two weeks' time.

Latvala has undergone surgery to insert seven screws into his shoulder to help speed up the healing process, it is hoped he will be fit for the Acropolis Rally in Greece at the end of May.

"Cross-country skiing is part of his regular training programme and he's a good and accomplished skier," a Ford spokesperson told the WRC website.

"Unfortunately he suffered a heavy fall and has been withdrawn from Rally Argentina to give himself the best possible opportunity to be fit for the Acropolis Rally at the end of May."

Trailing

The injury is the latest misfortune to befall Latvala's 2012 title tilt.

Despite winning in Sweden, failures to finish in Monte Carlo, Mexico and Portugal had already left him 38 points behind championship leader Sebastien Loeb.

Ford have yet to reveal who will replace Latvala in Argentina, and team boss Malcolm Wilson says a decision will not be taken until next week.

"My first concern has obviously been Jari and how best to get his situation resolved so it's right for him," Wilson said.

"Now we have taken the decision that it's best for him to miss Argentina so he's 100 per cent fit for the Acropolis, one of the most difficult rallies in the championship.

"We will look at his replacement for Argentina although we're not currently in a position to make an announcement until Monday at the earliest."