The Argentine entrepreneur Javier Faroni, known at home and abroad for his activities in theatre, event production and owner of Perugia Calcio, is at the center of a judicial investigation of national importance in Argentina.
In the early hours of Tuesday, December 30, 2025, the Policía Federal Argentina carried out a search at Faroni’s residence in an upscale neighborhood of Nordelta, as part of a criminal case investigating alleged money laundering and possible money laundering operations linked to the Asociación del Fútbol Argentino. The circumstantial framework emerges from the Argentine press which is following the investigation.
The proceeding was not limited to the entrepreneur’s house: the AFA offices in the city of Buenos Aires and Ezeiza’s training ground were also searched, where the agents searched for documentation, electronic devices and contracts relevant to the case.
For days, Faroni has not been able to leave Argentina, on the orders of the federal judiciary, and has been blocked at the airport where he was trying to reach Uruguay.
According to initial journalistic reconstructions, the investigation concerns commercial contracts and money movements linked to the AFA and its international activity through foreign companies of which Faroni was or still is director or owner, in particular TourProdEnter LLC, a company registered in the United States which is said to have administered over 260 million dollars in proceeds deriving from the commercial rights of the Selección Argentina abroad.
Authorities suspect that a significant portion of these funds, estimated by some sources to be at least $42 million, was diverted to “shield” companies in various countries, without being regularly reported or declared in the AFA’s official balance sheets, potentially tax evasion or money laundering.
In particular, financial movements towards luxury goods and non-secondary expenses emerge, including private planes, yachts, high-end cars, real estate and luxury services, as highlighted by a recent investigation by the newspaper La Nación which analyzed bank records and movements associated with TourProdEnter.
Javier Faroni has long been closely linked to Claudio “Chiqui” Tapia, president of the AFA, and his management team, including treasurer Pablo Toviggino, both of whom have been implicated in checks on the management of international contracts.
Federal authorities are seeking to determine whether irregular contracts or mechanisms for transferring financial resources exist between AFA and companies linked to Faroni or third parties.
According to the Doble Amarilla newspaper, the TourProdEnter company issued a statement stating that there are no formal charges or administrative observations that legally link it to crimes, and that the activity carried out would always have been within the scope of international commercial legality, with adequate regulatory requirements.
It is unclear whether the Argentine investigation is completely autonomous or coordinated with judicial investigations in the United States, where some authorities have already expressed interest in the same banking movements and corporate structure of TourProdEnter and other entities involved.
Faroni acquired Perugia Calcio in 2024, with the stated aim of integrating South American talents into European football and positioning the Umbrian club on the international football scene.
At the moment there are no elements to hypothesize the involvement of Ac Perugia Calcio, but the Faroni affair must be followed carefully for the potential implications that could result: the judicial evolution of the Faroni case in Argentina, the possible direct involvement of the Umbrian club and the financial/managerial solidity of the red and white club.
There is no automatic mechanism between the Faroni affair and Perugia Calcio, but the entrepreneur is still the owner of the club and the team. A criminal investigation in Argentina against the owner does not produce automatic effects on the club, unless direct links emerge between the disputed financial flows and Perugia or it is demonstrated that the acquisition or financing of the club took place with funds of illicit origin.
Federal regulations, however, allow checks on the honesty and reliability of controlling shareholders if definitive convictions or particularly serious facts emerge.
The most concrete risk for Perugia is not legal, but financial and managerial with the possibility of blocking or slowing down of Faroni’s personal capital, if subjected to seizure or asset investigations, and consequent lower capacity for recapitalization of the club and difficulty in supporting the market, wages and infrastructure.
If, however, Perugia has clean budgets, independent sponsors and traceable Italian flows, the impact may remain limited. At a sporting level there is no automatic penalty.
It should be remembered that to date Perugia Calcio is neither involved nor under investigation, and there are no immediate sporting consequences. The real issue is the economic solidity of the Faroni project in Italy: if the club’s financial flows are autonomous and transparent, the Argentine affair could remain a personal problem of the owner. If, however, the club is structurally dependent on its resources, the effects could emerge in the medium term.
