AFA denies Tapia subpoena, threatens legal action over ‘false’ FBI claims

The Argentine Football Association (AFA) on Wednesday rejected reports that its president, Claudio ‘Chiqui’ Tapia, had been summoned to testify by United States judicial authorities. The claims surfaced in several Argentine media outlets after Argentina’s men’s national team returned from the U.S. following the 2026 FIFA World Cup final held in New Jersey. Reports also alleged that the FBI had confiscated Tapia’s cellphone, a claim the AFA likewise denied.

According to Argentine football’s organizing body, the document cited by several publications ‘does not constitute a subpoena directed at AFA President Claudio Tapia or the organization’s Treasurer, Pablo Toviggino,’ but is instead ‘directed at a third party.’ The AFA said: ‘The dissemination of inaccurate or deliberately distorted information leads to serious misinformation and unjustifiably damages the reputation and image of individuals and institutions.’

The association urged media outlets ‘to thoroughly verify the content of documents before publishing claims that are not supported by them,’ adding that it reserved ‘the right to take all appropriate legal action in response to the dissemination of false or manifestly misleading information.’

According to Argentine newspaper La Nación, the document is linked to an investigation into multimillion-dollar transactions between the AFA and alleged shell companies stemming from a 2021 contract with TourProdEnter LLC. The company and its owners are also under investigation by the FBI. In December 2025, La Nación reported that AFA had moved US$42 million of its income to the Florida-based company, which became AFA’s ‘exclusive commercial agent for foreign markets’ just four months after incorporation and has since handled more than US$260 million in AFA revenues.

Article and image source: buenosairesherald.com