Revenue Collection and Customs Control Agency (ARCA) formally challenged the request by the Argentine Football Association (AFA) to move its tax address from Viamonte 1366 Street, in the City of Buenos Aires, to Mercedes 1366 Street, in the Buenos Aires Province town of Pilar. The decision was made after an official inspection verified that the reported address doesn't exist.
According to the agency's report, ARCA agents went to the site after they were notified that a shareholders' assembly had approved the change of address, which was requested on January 26, 2026. However, they were able to confirm that Mercedes Street only goes up to number 906 and that in the indicated area there is no AFA administrative headquarters in operation.
During the inspection, the officials surveyed the area and documented with photographic and film material that at the indicated location there is only the Ricardo Rusticucci municipal micro-stadium, a vacant lot with a for-sale sign, and a fenced property with abundant vegetation. On that piece of land, the officials only observed a sign with AFA's crest and the phrase "Coming soon, social headquarters and museum of the world champions", with no signs of institutional activity.
The alleged change of address had been approved at the October 17, 2024 assembly, in which the reelection of Claudio "Chiqui" Tapia until 2029 and the cancellation of relegations in the Primera División in order to return to the disastrous 30-team format were also decided. That address in Pilar was also a key element used by the judge of the Federal Court of Appeals of San Martín, Alberto Lugones, to remove a case from the Buenos Aires judge Marcelo Aguinsky and refer it to the Zárate-Campana court, headed by Javier González Charvay, in the context of an investigation related to a luxurious mansion attributed to AFA's treasurer, Pablo Toviggino.
The background of the conflict falls within the power struggle that AFA is maintaining with the Office of the Inspector General of Justice (IGJ), headed by Daniel Vítolo. The agency is analyzing the entity's last eight financial statements, with preliminary observations for alleged inconsistencies in amounts close to 450 million dollars, which include the Professional Football League. Based on that review, IGJ must decide whether it approves the financial statements, rejects them, or appoints an overseer.
In parallel, Tapia filed a criminal complaint against Vítolo and challenged him from taking part in the analysis of the financial statements, which resulted in the decision being referred to the National Undersecretary of Registry Affairs. That maneuver postponed for at least one more week the ruling by the oversight agency, while the judicial and administrative front surrounding AFA continues to add new chapters.
