Investigation with the president of the Argentine Football Federation in money laundering

External press reports revealed the start of the investigation with Claudio Tapia, president of the Argentine Football Association, on charges of "money laundering", just hours after the national team's victory over Egypt in the 2026 World Cup tournament.

The Argentine national team defeated its Egyptian counterpart three goals to two, in the match that brought the two teams together yesterday evening, Tuesday, at Atlanta Stadium in the United States of America, as part of the round of 16 competitions in the 2026 World Cup tournament.

The Spanish newspaper AS reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation "FBI" has begun investigating the transactions of the Argentine Football Association inside the United States of America.

It added: "Amid the atmosphere of celebration of the 2026 World Cup, the American Federal Bureau of Investigation and a number of prosecutors are conducting investigations into the financial transactions of the Argentine Football Association, headed by Claudio Chiqui Tapia, with one of the companies".

The report explained that federal prosecutors and elements from the Federal Bureau of Investigation have begun listening to statements related to the financial operations carried out by the Argentine Football Association inside the United States of America.

It continued: "Investigators from the U.S. Department of Justice seek to understand the mechanism of the Argentine Football Association's operations, and how it transferred amounts exceeding 300 million dollars through the American financial system, and whether some of those operations may constitute crimes falling within the jurisdiction of the United States".

Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation also held a meeting via the Zoom platform with businessman Guillermo Tofoni, to study whether some transactions linked to the Argentine Football Association may involve crimes such as money laundering or fraud using the American banking system.

The report indicated that the investigation began to take shape during 2025, led by 3 prosecutors: Patrick Joshu and Christopher Ting in Washington, along with Michael Berger in the southern region of the state of Florida.

Joshu works within the Banking Sector Integrity Unit of the U.S. Department of Justice and previously participated in investigations related to financial crimes, while Berger led the case that ended with the conviction of former Ecuadorian Comptroller General Carlos Ramon Polit Figini on charges of money laundering in the city of Miami.

According to the report, the company that the Argentine Football Association dealt with served as a financial intermediary for collecting international revenues, as hundreds of millions of dollars from global companies passed through it, including a "clothing company" worth 60 million dollars and another company worth 40 million dollars.

The Argentine national team qualified to face Switzerland in the quarterfinal round of the 2026 World Cup tournament, after the latter defeated Colombia on penalties.