The Argentine Football Association (AFA) on Wednesday rejected reports that its president, Claudio “Chiqui” Tapia, had been summoned to testify by United States judicial authorities.

The claims surfaced in several Argentine media outlets after Argentina’s men’s national team returned from the U.S. after playing in the final of the 2026 FIFA World Cup held in New Jersey. 

The reports also alleged that the FBI had confiscated Tapia’s cellphone, a claim the AFA likewise denied.

According to Argentine football’s organizing body the document cited by several publications “does not constitute a subpoena directed at AFA President Claudio Tapia or the organization’s Treasurer, Pablo Toviggino,” but is instead “directed at a third party.”

“The dissemination of inaccurate or deliberately distorted information leads to serious misinformation and unjustifiably damages the reputation and image of individuals and institutions,” the AFA said.

The association urged media outlets “to thoroughly verify the content of documents before publishing claims that are not supported by them,” adding that it reserved “the right to take all appropriate legal action in response to the dissemination of false or manifestly misleading information.”

According to Argentine newspaper La Nación, the document is linked to an investigation into multimillion-dollar transactions between the AFA and alleged shell companies stemming from a 2021 contract with TourProdEnter LLC.

The company and its owners are also under investigation by the FBI.

In December 2025, La Nación reported that AFA had moved US$42 million of its income to the Florida-based company, which was incorporated in August 2021 and became AFA’s “exclusive commercial agent for foreign markets” just four months later.

Since then, it has handled more than US$260 million in AFA revenues.

Tapia’s message to fans

Tapia also published an open letter to Argentine fans on Instagram, referring to the lost final and the many accusations that have circulated against the Argentine squad.

In it, he acknowledged that “Spain was superior to Argentina” in the World Cup final, adding that “it hurts to lose” because “we’re used to fighting until the very end.”

He also urged supporters to “think about the sacrifice” made by the players, coaching staff and “every person who worked for more than 50 days away from their families” to “represent Argentina in the best way possible.”

Tapia called on fans not to “get carried away by lies or by schemes that seek only to destabilize,” but instead to “thank, support and appreciate the players who once again gave their all for the team.”

His letter comes amid a wave of conspiracy theories promoted by several streamers and public figures following Argentina’s defeat. The claims range from allegations that the World Cup final was fixed in Spain’s favor to assertions that Argentina’s players were pressured to lose in order to prevent Tapia from being detained by the FBI.

Argentina has also faced accusations of widespread racism that circulated online during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Black Argentines, anti-racism activists, and Black expatriates living in Argentina have pushed back against it, arguing that the country was cast as the tournament’s “villain” in an increasingly polarized online debate.