The president of the Argentine Football Association, Claudio Tapia, faces charges of tax evasion according to a court ruling issued on Monday, along with a number of other officials in the federation.
These legal measures come based on a criminal complaint filed by the Argentine Tax Authority, accusing the federation and its officials of failing to pay taxes and social contributions, causing financial losses estimated at 19 billion pesos (equivalent to approximately 11.8 million euros).
In addition to Tapia, the accusations targeted four other officials in the federation, as well as the federation itself as a legal entity. The defendants appeared before the competent judge on March 12.
On the other hand, the Argentine Federation rejected these allegations, describing them as a “manoeuvre” led by Argentine President Javier Melay to put pressure on football in the country, in the context of his efforts to transform the clubs, currently classified as non-profit associations, into sports companies.
In an expression of their opposition to this trend, the clubs refrained from participating in the matches of the 29th round of the Premier League, which was scheduled to be held at the beginning of this month.
It is noteworthy that the Argentine Football Association has been subject, since 2017, to an independent investigation related to allegations of money laundering.
