AFA Secures Injunction, Halting Investigation into Financial Records

The Argentine Football Association (AFA) and the Superliga have successfully obtained a preliminary injunction from the National Chamber of Appeals in Civil Matters, halting an order from the General Inspectorate of Justice (IGJ) that demanded access to their financial statements for the period between 2022 and 2025. This legal victory comes just days before the start of the World Cup, hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

This maneuver, along with a separate action involving an alleged straw man named Luciano Pantano, appears to confirm a strategy by AFA's leadership to prolong judicial cases until after the World Cup. The hope is that a potential fourth World Cup title could mitigate the impact of ongoing legal proceedings.

In early May, IGJ inspectors issued a formal notice at the AFA's headquarters. Despite this, the AFA's legal team secured the injunction, effectively resetting the process. A similar situation previously occurred with the Superliga, which had been formally warned by the control body. In March, following the departure of Daniel Vítolo from the IGJ, Alejandro Ramírez assumed his position. During this transition, the Minister of Justice was slow to reactivate the oversight process initiated by the previous administration. When the case was eventually revived, the preliminary injunction again blocked the inspections.

Ramírez, in a resolution, stated that "having configured the omission of the duty of collaboration and information by the entity, it is appropriate to apply the sanction of a reprimand with publication provided for in article 14, inciso b), of Law 22.315, and to order it to allow access to the documentation and information requested by the receiver in the capacity of an inspector within ten administrative business days, under penalty of applying greater sanctions." The approval for the injunction came from Chamber D of the Civil Court, comprising magistrates Luis Maximiliano Caia, Juan Manuel Converset, and Gabriel Gerardo Rolleri. This ruling followed a complaint filed by businessman Guillermo Tofoni against the AFA for alleged fraud in its financial statements. Consequently, the criminal economic prosecutor, Emilio Gerchunoff, declared himself incompetent to continue intervening in the accusation, revealing new details about the relationship between the AFA and the U.S. company TOURPRODENTER LLC, linked to businessman Javier Faroni.