Former Vice President of the Financial Information Unit (UIF), María Eugenia Talerico, revealed the existence of an opaque financial scheme connecting the management of the Argentine Football Association (AFA) with money laundering and illicit financing linked to political power. The former official, in an interview with Splendid AM 990, pointed to former Minister Sergio Massa and the Central Bank as key components of a structure that uses cross-contracts and financial firms for currency movement. "Massa is at the center of the stage," she stated. Talerico described the Central Bank's management as "scandalous" as one of the providers of dollars for financial firms. She also described how the leadership of local football maintains a "corporate silence" for fear of sports or financial reprisals from the entity led by Claudio "Chiqui" Tapia. According to the Argentine News Agency, the investigation exposes judicial maneuvers designed to evade controls, such as the attempt to move the AFA's headquarters to appoint favorable judges. For the former official, the current scenario is conditioned by a complex internal struggle within the national government, where factions interested in deepening the case coexist with sectors that fear the political impact of an intervention. "It is very complex to know what is going to happen because there is an incredible internal struggle that plays out in these frictions of whether we are going to reach the final consequences or not," she explained, pointing out that the fear of possible FIFA sanctions ahead of the next World Cup also halts institutional progress. Finally, Talerico questioned the lack of stance from the leaders of the Argentine national team and called to break the inaction: "What attitude should the best football player in the world take in the face of such a corruption scandal?"
