Agents of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and American federal prosecutors launched a wide-ranging investigation a few days ago into the financial operations of the Argentine Football Association, headed by Claudio Tapia.
The probe aims to establish how hundreds of millions of dollars linked to the Association's commercial contracts were channelled through the American banking system.
Investigators are particularly interested in tens of millions of dollars whose final destination the reviewed banking documents never clarified.
According to the widely circulated Argentine website Infobae, the FBI detained the Argentina national team's plane at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York to seize the property of senior Association officials. Those under investigation on charges of fraud and embezzlement include Claudio "Chiqui" Tapia, the president, and Pablo Toviggino, the treasurer, alongside businessmen Diego Lucero and Javier Faroni.
Argentine media filled the aftermath of the final with speculation and conspiracy theories, hinting at the manipulation of match results. That noise became a curtain to cover up the real scandal at the Argentine Football Association.
The US government is now taking action against Tapia and his associates in a new chapter of the country's biggest corruption case.
Officials from the Argentine Football Association were summoned to appear before the court of the Southern District of Florida on 30 July, as part of the investigation into the "Argentine Football Association scandal".
Investigators asked them to provide all available information regarding a shell company based in Florida, which they are examining as the main tool for laundering and transferring funds from the sponsorship contracts Argentina signed from the last World Cup up to the next tournament in 2030.
Estimates indicate the company received 30% of the Argentine Football Association's total commercial revenue during that period.
According to the Argentine website: "The investigation that led to the confiscation of phones and electronic devices began to take shape during the World Cup. While Claudio 'Chiqui' Tapia and the Association's leaders were accompanying the national team in the United States, FBI agents and prosecutors from the Department of Justice began reconstructing the transactions carried out through the financial structure used to manage the organisation's international commercial contracts. The value of the operations under analysis exceeds 300 million dollars".
Sources close to the president of the Argentine Association denied these accusations, describing them as "false" and "baseless", despite the cases filed against him.
Mariano Lizardo, the sports official's lawyer, told the newspaper "La Nación": "I have just spoken with him, and it did not happen".
The United States goes on the attack
TourProdEnter LLC, a limited liability company set up between Faroni and his wife Erica Gillett, was designated by explicit decision of Tapia as the "exclusive agent" for collecting "the international contracts of the Argentine Football Association, in addition to receiving income from sponsors, commercial rights, friendly matches and other commercial activities linked to the Argentina national team, as well as receiving commissions in exchange for its intervention and the logistical services of the operations".
Drawing on several banking documents it obtained, the investigation confirms that the Argentine Association spread its revenues across multiple bank accounts.
Estimates indicate that nearly 14 million dollars in revenue, from contracts in Asia, Europe and the Arabian Gulf, passed through a single account. The funds remained in it for only between 24 and 72 hours before being transferred to other destinations.
The Argentine Association reportedly failed to disclose any of the sums investigated by the US Department of Justice in its financial statements. Other violations include the seizure of more than fifty luxury cars and a property in Villa Rosa worth more than 20 million dollars at the end of last year, in the name of a frontman linked to Tapia himself.
The Argentine Association defends itself
In a statement issued to the media, the Argentine Football Association attempted to deny part of the information: "In light of media reports, the Argentine Football Association considers it necessary to provide the following clarification: the document referred to in various publications does not constitute a summons directed at the president of the Argentine Football Association, Claudio Tapia, nor at the treasurer of the institution, Pablo Toviggino".
It added: "The summons issued by the United States Court for the Southern District of Florida is directed at a third party, who is required to appear before a grand jury and to provide documents and correspondence relating to various individuals, including the authorities of this Association".
The statement concluded: "The aforementioned document does not stipulate any personal measures against the president of the Association or its treasurer, nor does it order them to appear before the court, nor does it impose any procedural obligation on them, nor does it record any seizure or confiscation of their property. The publication of inaccurate or deliberately distorted information generates serious misinformation and unjustifiably affects the honour and reputation of individuals and institutions".