AFA says US authorities did not detain Claudio ‘Chiqui’ Tapia

Argentina's top football officials on Wednesday firmly denied reports that their federation's president and treasurer were detained and questioned by the FBI upon leaving the United States after the World Cup final.

The Argentine Football Association (AFA) did, however, acknowledge a US investigation into a third party with links to the association.

The organisation issued a statement following media reports that AFA President Claudio ‘Claudio’ Tapia and treasurer Pablo Toviggino had been detained at New York's John F. Kennedy airport before boarding the flight transporting the national squad home after their loss to Spain Sunday.

The pair were reportedly detained for questioning and had their electronic devices seized by US authorities, before being summoned to appear in court regarding AFA's international contracts.

But an AFA statement denied all of the reported claims as "absolutely false."

"All lies," a source from the association told AFP, while the FBI declined to comment.

A district court in Florida had issued a summons targeting "a third party," AFA conceded.

The individual "is being asked to appear before a grand jury and present any documents and communications that may be related to various individuals, including officials" of the federation, it said.

Several domestic media outlets reported that FBI agents had detained Tapia and other officials at a New York airport on Monday.

According to the reports, the officials were asked to hand over their mobile phones and other electronic devices.

Asked to comment by the AFP news agency, the FBI declined to comment on any possible investigation.

AFA, headed by football heavyweight Tapia since 2017, is the subject of several investigations in Argentina.

One probe is focusing on alleged money-laundering, while another relates to tax evasion.

Under former trade unionist Tapia's leadership, AFA's relations with far-right President Javier Milei's administration have grown strained.

Tapia, for instance, strongly opposes Milei's desire to privatise football clubs across the country.

The La Nación newspaper reported in May that the US Department of Justice had launched an investigation into financial transactions involving accounts in Florida and Washington linked to companies close to the AFA.

In Argentina, three months ago, a judge formally charged the AFA, Tapia and other senior officials with tax evasion. The charges came as the football association accused President Javier Milei's government of orchestrating a campaign of judicial persecution against it.

As part of that case, the court imposed an attachment order of around US$250,000 on Tapia's assets and restricted his ability to leave the country, although it allowed him to travel to the 2026 World Cup, where Argentina were defending the title they won in Qatar in 2022 before losing Sunday's final 1-0 to Spain.

Argentine courts are also investigating the purchase of a property worth around US$17 million amid suspicions that it belongs to AFA treasurer Pablo Toviggino and was acquired through frontmen.

– TIMES/AFP