San Francisco Frontiers - Mass graft raids rattle Argentine football

Police struck dozens of locations at once as part of an investigation into a financial company that was the official sponsor of the Argentine football league and the national team last year.

"So far there have been 25 to 30 raids of teams and private homes," a police source told AFP.

The source confirmed that the headquarters of the Argentine Football Association as well as the training grounds of the national team south of the capital were targeted.

Several first-division clubs were also raided, including Racing, Independiente, Banfield, and San Lorenzo.

The company under investigation is Sur Finanzas, whose owner is close to AFA president Claudio Tapia.

Last month tax authorities filed a complaint against the firm accusing it of dodging taxes on Argentine pesos equivalent to $550 million.

Local media reported that authorities were investigating whether the firm used frontmen to provide loans to clubs in exchange for benefits such as broadcasting rights.

The judge in charge has lifted banking confidentiality for the clubs under investigation.

Racing downplayed its ties to Sur Finanzas, saying in a statement that a 2023 commercial agreement with the company "was only an advertising and sponsorship deal," set to expire on December 31, 2025.

The club also noted that Sur Finanzas owes it money.

Another club that was raided, the Buenos Aires-based Atletico Excursionistas, denied any financial ties to the firm under investigation, beyond a typical sponsorship deal.

- Power struggles -

The scandal comes as football in Lionel Messi's Argentina -- which lifted the 2022 World Cup trophy -- is mired in power struggles.

Several controversies have raised questions over the power that Tapia, who has headed the AFA since 2017, wields over Argentine football.

Tapia has clashed with the government of President Javier Milei, who favors turning football clubs into publicly traded sports companies.

AFA rules do not allow this.

In a controversial move, the AFA last month suddenly created a new championship combining points from the season's two main league tournaments.

This saw Rosario Central -- the club of former Paris Saint-Germain player Angel Di Maria -- crowned "Argentine champion," even though the final of the closing tournament has yet to be played.

Estudiantes -- which is playing in Saturday's final against Racing -- rejected the title and its president was suspended for six months by the AFA disciplinary tribunal.

One of the clubs raided was Barracas Central, which Tapia ran for two decades before his son took over.

In recent months, anger has heated up over alleged referee favoritism towards the club which soared from the lower divisions to the top flight in recent years.

Tapia has remained defiant in the face of the growing controversies.

"Three Argentine presidents have come and gone in just nine years since I began leading Argentine football, and I still have many years ahead," he said two weeks ago, referring to the end of his current mandate in 2028.

H.King--SFF