×

Police Raid Argentine Football Federation, Clubs In Graft Probe

"So far there have been 25 to 30 raids of teams and private homes," the source said, also confirming the raid on the federation headquarters.


Police inspect a supermarket belonging to the family of Antonela Roccuzzo, the wife of Argentine football star Lionel Messi, after attackers fired shots at the facade of the closed premises early in the morning and left a threat message to Messi, in Rosario, Santa Fe Province, Argentina, on March 2, 2023.

 

Argentine authorities raided the headquarters of the national football federation and several major teams on Tuesday as part of a money-laundering probe, a police source told AFP.

In a wave of simultaneous raids ordered by a judge, officers searched the Argentine Football Federation offices, south of Buenos Aires, and teams including Racing Club, San Lorenzo, Independiente and Banfield, the source said.

“So far there have been 25 to 30 raids of teams and private homes,” the source said, also confirming the raid on the federation headquarters.

Agents were looking for accounting information related to finance company Sur Finanzas, which sponsors several teams and is suspected of malpractice.

READ ALSO: Court Orders Dismissal Of Brazil Football Federation President

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

The company has carried out a number of business deals in the world of Argentine football and its CEO Ariel Vallejo is close to the head of the football federation, Claudio Tapia.

Last year Sur Finanzas was the official sponsor of the Argentine football league and the national team.