Argentine Clubs Announce Strike Amid Legal Dispute with AFA

During a meeting of the Professional League Executive Committee, the First Division clubs unanimously decided this Tuesday to request the Argentine Football Association (AFA) to call a strike across all categories of Argentine football for March 5, 6, 7, and 8. This coincides with the start of the ninth round of the Apertura Tournament and the date set for the questioning of Claudio Tapia and Pablo Toviggino. They are accused of failing to pay income tax, VAT, and social security contributions for various months in 2024 and 2025, totaling 19.353 billion pesos. «A war is being declared against football that has nothing to do with it». The magistrate summoned Tapia for questioning on March 5 and banned him from leaving the country in the case of AFA's retention of contributions of over 19 billion pesos. In another case related to the National Team, businessman Guillermo Tofoni, the complainant in the investigation into multimillion-dollar irregularities in the Argentine Football Association (AFA), stated on Monday that «there is documentation that supports» his complaint and pointed to some 400 million dollars «distributed in ghost accounts». By presenting himself as a victim to the US justice system, Tofoni gained access to the financial route of the funds, especially concerning money to be collected from abroad, which would exceed the 400 million dollars that never entered the AFA. «The FIFA Gate was for about 140 or 150 million dollars, and here we are talking about 400 million», Tofoni emphasized to Radio Rivadavia. «The combination of Argentina being world champions, plus Lionel Messi, made the brands and prices of the national team's activities multiply by 10 in many cases. Now we find out through the media that they authorized Tapia to travel to CONMEBOL. They want to impose Sporting Joint-Stock Companies, and the partners have already made their position clear», assured the Liniers leader to the press. Shortly before 17:00, the AFA published an official communiqué confirming the request from the top-tier clubs during the meeting at the «Lionel Andrés Messi» facility in Ezeiza, which was to be addressed at the Executive Committee meeting of the country's main football body for final confirmation. However, shortly after 18:30, the LPF confirmed the strike on its social networks. Clarín was able to contact at least three executives who were at the meeting and ratified the stance, although they clarified that it could be modified if the complaint is dropped, as during the meeting, the AFA leadership showed the figures that, in their version, confirm that there is no such debt denounced to ARCA. «The voluntary payment of these tax obligations was made prior to their due date, and this is the basis of the motion already made to the intervening court, which to this date is pending resolution by the Chamber of Appeals. It was proven that they have nothing. It is very strange». Berlanga's reference was to the Clarín article that confirmed that the AFA president was authorized by Justice to leave the country from this Tuesday until Friday to travel to Colombia and Brazil to participate in CONMEBOL activities, including the final of the South American Recopa against Lanús, against Flamengo, at the Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro. Judicial sources indicated to this newspaper that the Economic Penal Court judge, Diego Amarante, accepted Tapia's request to travel and imposed a surety of five million pesos as a guarantee. «I don't understand why they attack football like this. ARCA intends to consider that these obligations, which have not yet expired and which they cannot even collect, become the basis for the possible commission of a tax crime, in open contradiction to current legal norms», says the AFA communiqué. There were four absences at the meeting, all with notice: Boca Juniors (at the same time, it was traveling to Salta to play this Tuesday for the Argentine Cup), Aldosivi from Mar del Plata, Estudiantes from Río Cuarto, and logically, Estudiantes from La Plata, who is in conflict with the AFA leadership since the «pat on the back» against Rosario Central, the designated champion of the 2025 Professional League, with a hasty rule change last November. Berlanga considered what is happening with the leadership of Argentine football «unfair» after the meeting led by the president himself, Claudio Fabián «Chiqui» Tapia, the treasurer Pablo Toviggino, and the secretary Cristian Malaspina. «It's unfair what is happening. Football generates work, now the AFA launched the streaming platform. Everything is up to date. The point is where all that money went», he emphasized. Tofoni had a contract with the AFA to organize matches abroad, which was disowned by its president, Claudio «Chiqui» Tapia, and its treasurer, Pablo Toviggino, who closed another agreement with the TourProdEnter LLC firm, based in the United States. This company, owned by Argentine businessman Javier Faroni and his American wife Erika Gillette, was formed in 2021 «and automatically obtained the rights to collect funds globally for everything the AFA billed». «This company never had a client before and never had another client after», explained Toffoni and maintained that «with that money» collected from AFA funds «they even bought a football team in Italy, Perugia». The complaining businessman clarified that «all the money that was collected is legal, it is under contracts, but the point is that it should have ended up in the AFA and not in ghost accounts», among which he mentioned «financial companies with headquarters in Uruguay, and branches in Buenos Aires and in New York». «We manage the rights and we are not overwhelmed by companies», he stated. Photo: @natyponcefotos – Professional League