New Delhi:The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has reportedly begun investigating financial matters related to the Argentine Football Association (AFA) in the country on suspicion of possible money laundering ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026.
According to a report by
Investigators are trying to determine how the AFA, led by President Claudio Tapia, transferred hundreds of millions of dollars through the U.S. financial system and whether any of those transactions could have resulted in crimes under U.S. jurisdiction, newspaper La Nacion reported, as cited by Fox Sports Mexico.
The report also identifies TourProdEnter LLC, a Florida company that manages the AFA’s international financial obligations, as one of the primary targets of the investigation. La Nacion said the documentation showed financial activity with accounts at Citibank, Synovus, Bank of America, JP Morgan and PNC Bank.
“Gillette and Faroni —former Buenos Aires legislator of the Renewal Front— moved at least hundreds of millions of dollars through accounts opened in five US financial entities: Citibank, Synovus, Bank of America, JP Morgan and PNC Bank, according to documents obtained and analyzed by LA NACION in the last few months and revealed at the end of 2025 and the beginning of this year,” the report claimed.
TourProdEnter LLC also funneled at least $260 million of AFA revenue through those accounts, the newspaper said. The report found that bank records indicated only a portion of those funds could be traced to identifiable operating expenses, the newspaper said.
Through these accounts, TourProdEnter LLC managed at least US$260 million in income for the AFA, although, according to bank records analysed by LA NACION, only a part of this money can be directly attributed to identifiable operating costs of the organization led by Tapia. Another $57 million was paid to various companies and beneficiaries whose economic justification is not clear from the documentation reviewed by this newspaper. “Included in these transfers are wire transfers of tens of millions of dollars to companies that, according to documentation analyzed by LA NACION, do not provide any identifiable service and were controlled by individuals who, according to official records consulted by this newspaper, received social welfare benefits and lived in Bariloche or Buenos Aires,” it added.
Tapia's recent controversiesThe reported investigation comes as Tapia faces pressure on a number of fronts. The AFA president had been under fire before the World Cup over corruption probes, unpopular changes to the domestic league and a series of warm-up matches against lower-ranked teams that were not well received.
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