\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t Updated Monday 7.30 p.m.<\/p>\n
The Argentine Football Association (AFA) is in hot water over its finances again, after investigative journalists at La Naci\u00f3n newspaper reported that US$42 million of its income had been moved to shell companies in Florida.<\/p>\n
The outlet claims to have reviewed confidential banking records that show how a U.S. company that collects AFA revenues around the world transferred the sum to four Florida-based companies that have no employees or declared commercial activity.<\/p>\n
AFA responded to the claims with a press statement released on Monday afternoon, calling the claims \u201cbiased and unsubstantiated journalistic reports.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to La Naci\u00f3n, AFA president Claudio \u201cChiqui\u201d Tapia and his right hand man, treasurer Pablo Toviggino are not mentioned in any of the files. However, Toviggino\u2019s wife appears as the recipient of part of the funds, as does a company that once listed the AFA treasurer and his brothers as stockholders.<\/p>\n
TourProdEnter LLC, the company the journalists investigated, was incorporated in Florida in August 2021. Just four months later it became the AFA\u2019s \u201cexclusive commercial agent for foreign markets.\u201d Over the past four years, it has handled AFA revenues of over US$260 million.<\/p>\n
The contract was included in an AFA Bulletin in December 9, 2021. It granted the company the job of collecting income for the AFA abroad, issuing payments to settle its obligations outside Argentina, and remitting any revenue to Argentine football\u2019s governing body.<\/p>\n
The income comes mainly from the Argentine national team\u2019s sponsors, television broadcasting rights, and fees for friendly matches.<\/p>\n
The AFA has been criticized by fans and journalists alike for a recent string of men\u2019s national team friendlies against weaker rivals, which many fear offer poor World Cup preparation opportunities for head coach Lionel Scaloni.<\/p>\n
AFA\u2019s response The AFA responded to the claims with a press statement released on Monday afternoon, calling them \u201cbiased and unsubstantiated journalistic reports.\u201d It also pointed the finger at Guillermo Tofoni, the Argentine businessman linked to Foster Gillett\u2019s investment deal with Estudiantes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe AFA has a running contract with TourProdenter LLC [\u2026] for its representation in economic and commercial matters abroad. This contractual relationship has been duly submitted for review by various courts, both in Argentina and in the United States, without any irregularities being detected,\u201d reads the statement.<\/p>\n
The communiqu\u00e9 went on to claim the new investigations are part of \u201cnew actions and public campaigns against the AFA and its authorities\u201d aimed at \u201ccreating a climate of institutional delegitimization and destabilization.\u201d AFA also argued that the reports by La Naci\u00f3n are based on \u201cold court filings\u201d made by Tofoni.<\/p>\n
AFA linked to money laundering investigations AFA has been in hot water over its alleged involvement with a company being investigated for money laundering since the start of December.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, Argentine police raided the offices, stadiums, and training centers of 17 professional football clubs and financial firm Sur Finanzas as part of a money laundering investigation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The financial institution has sponsored teams such as Racing, Platense, Banfield, and Barracas Central \u2014 Tapia\u2019s club \u2014 among others, as well as the Argentine first division championship. Local media have speculated that the company could have links to Tapia on account of his ties to the firm\u2019s owner, Ariel Vallejo, who has not hidden that he is close to the AFA boss.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The case arose after Argentina\u2019s tax agency, ARCA, detected AR$818 billion (US$553 million) on Sur Finanzas\u2019 books belonging to shell companies and individuals that did not have the financial capacity to justify their transactions. It also found a 2 million-euro loan to football club Banfield that was allegedly incorporated into the club\u2019s assets and not repaid. According to reports, clubs have used the company to channel their funds.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On December 16, Senator Patricia Bullrich reported Tapia and AFA treasurer Pablo Toviggino to the ethics committee of CONMEBOL, South American football\u2019s governing body.<\/p>\n
The Argentine Football Association (AFA) said it wouldn\u2019t \u201cgive [the government] the right\u201d to intervene in football, in a 2,500-word statement.<\/p>\n
Tapia is also under fire in a case filed against Luciano Pantano and Ana Luc\u00eda Conte, who stand accused of money laundering. The Argentine authorities suspect they are intermediaries for Tapia\u2019s alleged ownership of a large country house in Pilar.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to the complaint filed by Coalici\u00f3n C\u00edvica leaders Elisa Carri\u00f3, Juan Facundo del Gaiso, and Mat\u00edas Yofe, the house includes \u201ccollectible cars, a farm with Arabian and thoroughbred racehorses, a horse training track, a heliport, and multiple sports facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Updated Monday 7.30 p.m. The Argentine Football Association (AFA) is in hot water over its finances again, after investigative journalists at La Naci\u00f3n newspaper reported that US$42 million of its income had been moved to shell companies in Florida. The outlet claims to have reviewed confidential banking records that show how a U.S. company that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":21805,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2890,253,2885,1912,4497,67],"tags":[4351,2459,4493,1909,4495,1369],"class_list":["post-21804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afa","category-argentina","category-claudio-chiqui-tapia","category-judiciary","category-pablo-toviggino","category-sports","tag-afa","tag-argentina","tag-claudio-chiqui-tapia","tag-judiciary","tag-pablo-toviggino","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}