The Argentine Football Association is facing growing scrutiny in the United States over a financial network that handled nearly $300 million in international revenue.
Federal prosecutors and FBI agents are investigating whether transactions linked to the AFA could constitute money laundering or fraud through the American banking system.
The inquiry remains at a preliminary stage. Neither the AFA nor its president, Claudio “Chiqui” Tapia, has been charged with a crime in the United States.
FBI turns up the heat on AFA’s money trail
US investigators have begun contacting foreign companies that signed lucrative sponsorship and commercial agreements with the AFA.
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According to Hugo Alconada Mon and Nicolás Pizzi of La Nación, prosecutors are examining payments that were directed to TourProdEnter LLC rather than being transferred directly to an AFA account in Argentina.
The Florida-based company was appointed to manage the federation’s international commercial income. It is linked to Argentine theatre producer and former politician Javier Faroni and his wife, Erica Gillette.
Investigators are now attempting to establish where the money went after it reached TourProdEnter’s American bank accounts, who ultimately received it and whether any US laws were broken.
Nearly $300m passed through private company
TourProdEnter was created in Florida in August 2021 and secured its agreement with the AFA only a few months later.
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Under that arrangement, the company collected international sponsorship, broadcasting and match-related revenue on the federation’s behalf. It was reportedly entitled to retain 30 per cent of the AFA’s international income after taxes, as well as a ten per cent commission on certain logistical expenses.
Banking records indicate that TourProdEnter subsequently handled close to $300 million through accounts at several US financial institutions.
According to Nicolás Pizzi’s reconstruction for La Nación, more than $146 million passed through Bank of America, while a further $72.4 million was deposited with Synovus and approximately $41 million with Citibank. Additional funds were held at JPMorgan and other institutions.
These transactions are not, by themselves, proof of criminal activity. Investigators are examining whether the payments had legitimate commercial purposes and whether the federation ultimately received the money it was entitled to.
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$57m trail leads to Miami companies
The most serious questions concern almost $57 million that was reportedly transferred through ten companies registered in Miami.
Several of those businesses allegedly had no employees, no declared commercial operations and no clear explanation for receiving millions of dollars connected to AFA revenue.
Some were registered to Argentinians with limited financial means, including people who had worked in a pharmacy or retail business and individuals who had previously received social assistance.
A separate La Nación investigation into the alleged shell-company network reported that several companies shared the same Miami address and were linked to allegedly false invoices.
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The newspaper alleged that part of the money was later returned to Argentina through unofficial financial brokers, where cash was collected in person. Those claims form part of the material now being examined by investigators and have not resulted in a US conviction.
Major sponsors pulled into widening inquiry
Among the contracts under scrutiny are commercial agreements reportedly worth tens of millions of dollars.
La Nación identified payments linked to an approximately $60 million agreement with Adidas and a $40 million deal involving Warner. The companies are being approached as potential sources of information, not accused of participating in wrongdoing.
Investigators reportedly want to understand why companies doing business with the AFA were instructed to send payments to TourProdEnter and how those funds were subsequently distributed.
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Federal prosecutors have also begun gathering testimony from people with knowledge of the AFA’s internal operations.
Businessman Guillermo Tofoni, who has been involved in a legal dispute with the federation, reportedly took part in a lengthy meeting with FBI agents and prosecutors. Former senior AFA employees and former Argentine government officials may also be approached.
AFA hits back at explosive airport claims
The case became clouded by false or disputed reports after Argentina’s World Cup final defeat to Spain.
Several media outlets claimed that FBI agents had intercepted Tapia and other AFA officials at a New York airport, seized their phones and ordered them to appear before a federal court in Florida.
The AFA categorically denied those claims.
“It is absolutely false to state that Claudio Tapia or Pablo Toviggino have been summoned to testify by the United States justice system, just as it is false to claim that their mobile phones or any other electronic device were seized,” the federation said, as quoted in EFE’s report on the US investigation.
The denial addressed the alleged airport operation and personal summonses. It did not establish that the broader federal inquiry into TourProdEnter and AFA-linked transactions does not exist.
Tapia’s ‘lies’ warning was about World Cup rumours
Tapia also published a message asking Argentinians not to believe “lies” and attempts to destabilise the national team.
However, the post was primarily directed at conspiracy theories and criticism that followed Argentina’s defeat to Spain in the World Cup final. It was not presented as a detailed response to the alleged financial irregularities.
“Do not be carried away by lies or by operations that only seek to destabilise. Enough of trying to set people who have given so much to our football against one another,” Tapia wrote, as reported in La Nación’s article about his statement.
Using that quotation as a direct denial of the FBI inquiry would therefore be misleading.
No evidence of FIFA complicity
The available reporting supports the existence of a preliminary US investigation into transactions involving TourProdEnter and AFA revenue.
It does not establish that FIFA approved illegal transfers, participated in the alleged financial network or deliberately ignored criminal activity. No reliable evidence supporting those accusations has been made public.
The investigation is instead focused on whether money connected to the AFA was improperly diverted through American banks and companies.
For now, the allegations remain unproven. However, the involvement of federal prosecutors, FBI agents and a possible grand jury means the pressure surrounding one of world football’s most powerful national federations is unlikely to disappear quickly.
