Argentine court charges football chief ‘Chiqui’ Tapia and top AFA officials with tax fraud
The investigation, triggered by a complaint from Argentina’s tax and customs agency (ARCA), found that the AFA withheld taxes from employees and suppliers
An Argentine court on Monday charged the president of the Argentine Football Association (AFA), Claudio Tapia, treasurer Pablo Toviggino, and three other officials with misappropriation of tax revenue and social security funds, in a case involving unpaid withholdings of more than 19 billion pesos (roughly $13 million).
Judge Diego Amarante of the economic crimes court also charged the AFA as a legal entity and ordered the seizure of 350 million pesos (about $246,000) in assets from the organization, Tapia, and Toviggino. The ruling also covers general director Gustavo Roberto Lorenzo, secretary general Cristian Ariel Malaspina, and former secretary general Víctor Blanco Rodríguez, with smaller seizures.
The investigation, triggered by a complaint from Argentina’s tax and customs agency (ARCA), found that the AFA withheld taxes from employees and suppliers — including VAT, income tax, and social security contributions — between March 2024 and September 2025 but failed to remit them to the treasury within the legal 30-day deadline.
The charges are aggravated: 34 counts of tax misappropriation in conjunction with 17 counts of social security fund misappropriation. According to La Nación, the aggravated classification carries non-bailable penalties of up to 50 years in prison if convicted.
Tapia testified before the court on March 12 and denied any involvement in the entity’s tax operations. The AFA said in a statement that it had filed all required tax declarations and that ARCA had accepted all pending payments, applying interest but imposing no punitive sanctions. Judge Amarante rejected those arguments, finding that the organization had ample funds available to meet its obligations on time, according to EFE.
The charges were issued without pretrial detention, but Tapia and Toviggino are barred from leaving the country and may not be away from their homes for more than 72 hours without court approval. The travel ban was lifted for the three other defendants. The restriction on Tapia and Toviggino could prevent them from attending Argentina’s matches at the 2026 World Cup, set to begin in less than three months in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
