IGJ requested documentation for more than USD 450 million and warned of possible economic sanctions
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The national government formally ordered Asociación del Fútbol Argentino (AFA) and the Liga Profesional de Fútbol to submit explanations and supporting documentation regarding their accounting and financial statements, which include expenses and investments for multimillion-dollar amounts that are difficult to justify.
The measure will be carried out by the Ministry of Justice, through the Inspección General de Justicia (IGJ), and aims to clarify figures that exceed USD 111 million in AFA's case and USD 340 million in the Liga Profesional. The Executive Branch warned that this is a regular oversight procedure, identical to the one applied to all registered private legal entities, with no privileges or exceptions.
In the official statement, IGJ indicated that both entities will be required to respond to all observations made regarding their financial statements, in addition to submitting documentation that supports expenses and investments linked to activities that would not be covered by their corporate bylaws. In particular, officials emphasized that AFA is a nonprofit civil association, which imposes clear limits on the destination and nature of its resources.
Claudio "El Chiqui" Tapia con Axel Kiciloff.
The government stressed that a lack of response or failure to comply with the requirements within the granted deadline could result in severe financial penalties, both for the entities and for their directors. The message was explicit:no one is above the law.
The formal order comes in a context of increasing judicial and administrative pressure on the leadership of Argentine soccer. Days ago, the Minister of Security, Patricia Bullrich, filed a complaint with CONMEBOL's Ethics Tribunal against AFA authorities for alleged violations of the Ethics Code and the South American body's anti-corruption policies.
Meanwhile, Judge Marcelo Aguinsky, head of Economic Criminal Court No. 10, is investigating an alleged network of front men linked to senior AFA officials. The case includes the company Real Central SRL and two individuals with economic profiles that are incompatible with the assets listed in their names. Among the assets under review is a property of more than 10 hectares (more than 24.7 acres) in Villa Rosa, in the Pilar district, with a helipad, sports facilities, and luxury vehicles.
Claudio "El Chiqui" Tapia.
The investigation also targets direct contracts between AFA and supplier companies, such as the case of Malte SRL, which was hired for about USD 550,000 for the VAR system, despite alleged ties to former officials of the organization.
In response to these developments, AFA claimed supposed political persecution and again rejected any attempt at state oversight, in addition to questioning the government's promotion of Sports Corporations. However, the government keeps that this is not a political dispute, but rather a matter of enforcing the law and ensuring transparency in the management of multimillion-dollar funds.
