Claudio “Chiqui” Tapia, in the spotlight / website
The Argentine Football Association (AFA) released an official statement responding to journalistic investigations and questions that have scrutinized the management of the company’s funds in recent weeks. The text was distributed in a climate of growing institutional tensions and amid suspicions of financial maneuvers involving businessmen close to the leadership.
The statement attempts to justify the 30 percent commission awarded to theater producer and former provincial deputy Javier Faroni in various commercial contracts. The public backlash came after it emerged that Faroni had allegedly used at least $6.2 million from accounts linked to the AFA to finance the takeover of Italian club Perugia, an operation carried out through companies controlled by himself.
The process under investigation
The purchase of Perugia would be through the company Sports Next Gen Ltd. a company that specializes in investments in the sports sector. Now it has come to light that this company received wire transfers from a Bank of America account in the name of TourProdEnter LLC, a company run by Erica Gillette, Faroni’s wife.
Gillette is contractually linked to the AFA, chaired by Claudio “Chiqui” Tapia, and is mentioned in bank documents as the operator of funds intended for commercial activities of the Argentine national team. This triangulation of money under judicial suspicion is one of the axes of the scandal that surrounds the institution.
The journalistic report also suggests that Faroni acted as an intermediary in operations that went beyond his formal role within the organization’s commercial structure, causing alarm among state control organizations and criticism from internal areas of Argentine football.
In light of these revelations, the AFA published a document entitled “The only truth is reality,” a phrase attributed to Juan Domingo Perón. There, the institution mentions that it has received “malicious publications, misinformation and operations” aimed at degrading the image of the leadership and clarifies that it considers it necessary to “repeat relevant information to understand the current status of commercial agreements.”
The text states that since 2017, current management has proposed “reassessing the assets” of the AFA through renegotiations with sponsors, agents and suppliers. He assures that when he took office there were contracts with terms running until 2030, which, according to the company, would have damaged the organization’s income.
Criticism of Grondona management
In historical comparison, the AFA mentions that under the leadership of Julio Grondona there were commercial programs in which the intermediaries received significantly higher percentages than the institution received.
The statement lists examples:
– The ISL agent received 55% of the rights of the Argentina national team, while the AFA received 45%.
– The Santa Mónica company managed the rights with a 50% distribution for each party.
– Businessman Guillermo Tofoni, linked to an international friendly rights holder, received up to 35% of the highest income; his partner, 65%; and the AFA only received a fixed sum of $1 million per game.
The company claims that the current distribution, on the other hand, is “up to 70% for the AFA and 30% for those who operate commercially”, which, according to its version, would mean a profound change in the business model.
Conflicting accusations and internal pressure
The statement also targets actors who, according to the AFA, seek to “destabilize” the leadership. He claims that those who did not agree to renegotiate “detrimental” contracts for the facility sought to gain advantage by disseminating information that he describes as “distorted” or incomplete.
In a section with a strong political tone, the document states: “In this web of lies and misinformation, there are no Robin Hoods fighting for the well-being of the people,” suggesting that there are economic motives behind the complaints and no real interest in transparency.
As part of the defense strategy, the AFA attached PDF copies of the contracts signed during the Grondona era with the company that marketed the Argentina national team’s games abroad. The company claims that these documents show “the adopted commercial scheme” and allow us to understand the framework within which the subsequent renegotiations were developed.
The AFA did not comment for now on the money route mentioned in the journalistic investigation or on Faroni’s specific role in the takeover of Perugia. There was also no information about possible internal audits or the intervention of state control authorities.
The case continues to develop and has already caused tension in the world of Argentine football itself, where executives, businessmen and former business partners are revealing through the media different versions about the national team’s contract management and cash flow. Far from ending the debate, the AFA statement raised new questions and anticipated a scenario of growing conflict over the management of the national football’s most important asset.
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