Reports suggested Tapia and Toviggino were held before boarding the flight carrying Argentina’s squad home. AFA described those claims as “absolutely false”, while an association source dismissed them as “All lies.”
The federation’s position is clear: neither senior official was detained at the New York airport. The FBI has declined to comment, leaving the alleged airport incident firmly disputed rather than established.
AFA has not denied that US authorities are examining matters connected to someone linked to the organisation. It says a district court in Florida issued a summons for “a third party” to appear before a grand jury.
That individual has reportedly been asked to provide documents and communications involving several people, including federation officials. A summons is a legal step in an inquiry, not a finding of wrongdoing, but its acknowledgement gives the story a more substantial element than the rejected detention claim.
The US development arrives as AFA faces legal scrutiny in Argentina, where investigations have reportedly examined alleged money laundering and tax evasion. Tapia, who has led the federation since 2017, also remains central to a political dispute with President Javier Milei over proposals to introduce private ownership structures for Argentine clubs.
That combination places AFA under pressure on several fronts: governance, domestic politics and international legal attention. The federation is trying to separate an emphatic denial from an acknowledged judicial process.
The next storyline will be whether the US summons produces further documents, court action or a fuller response from AFA. Until then, the detention allegation remains denied, while the grand jury inquiry involving a third party remains the concrete issue to watch.