Pablo Ariel Toviggino
(Rosario, 1979) prefers to walk in the shadows.
Thus, far from the lights, he became one of the most powerful men in Argentine soccer.
But, in addition, as
Clarín
was able to confirm , at least until last December 5, who is the right hand of
Claudio Chiqui Tapia
in the AFA,
was paid as an advisor to the Chamber of Deputies of the Nation
, where he had been appointed by his friend
Sergio Massa
staff
.
The category to which his appointment belongs -A2- currently corresponds to
a monthly salary of 1.7 million pesos
.
So powerful is he that, as if he were Thanos, the villain of the Marvel Universe, he could change the destiny of the Argentine Football Association with a snap of his fingers.
Even Chiqui Tapia, his main ally, also patron and protégé, fears for all the information handled by who is today the
president of the Santiagueña Football League and treasurer of the AFA
.
Claudio Tapia, president of AFA, and Pablo Toviggino, head of the Federal Council, the two heads of Argentine football decisions.
In the last few hours, Toviggino appeared on the scene with the force of a geyser.
She did it through X, the former Twitter, which is usually the place where her voice is "heard" that very few could identify if they heard it.
In a publication of exactly 280 characters, he tried to discipline Carlos Tevez, coach of Independiente, who exploded after referee Pablo Dóvalo's mistakes in the 2-2 against Barracas Central.
"Since you were not so studious in the course for DT (I say through the Analytical) there are surely things that you see confusing. Strange of you, while playing you committed jail fouls and they only ended in yellow!! I also did not listen to you in some previous games, what I reserve. Anyway, Wind Memory!!!"
.
Since you were not so studious in the DT course (I say for the Analytical) there are surely things that you find confusing.
Strange of you, while playing you committed jail offenses and they only ended in yellow!!
I didn't listen to you in some previous games either, which I reserve.
Anyway, Wind Memory!!!
https://t.co/qDR7aW4m6q
— Pablo Toviggino (@TovigginoPablo) March 6, 2024
It was a slap in the form of a post in which he accused the coach of irregularities in his qualifying course and reminded him of the ironing with which he seriously injured
Ezequiel Ham
in an Argentinos-Boca match and his silences in games in which the referees "made a mistake "against his current rival.
All crowned with another reminder about a complaint that involves the former player with former president Mauricio Macri over alleged irregularities.
To the ankles.
Tevez was not far behind
.
In
an account of
, also bury the bags that you brought from Qatar and from the friendlies in China. Memory, Ali Baba
. "
The DT's message, which had the supporting nod of
Sergio Kun Agüero
and former referee
Javier Castrilli
, hints at alleged
acts of corruption
that would involve Toviggino for
alleged improper profits and returns from the participation of the Argentine National Team in the last World Cup.
and on one of his last tours.
These are versions that circulate in the football underworld, but have not yet been formalized as complaints in Justice.
It is related to the management of the Argentine football fund that the leader has due to his status as treasurer of the AFA
.
It is not the first time that Toviggino uses social networks as a disciplinary instrument.
Every time a leader or a coach or anyone complains about the refereeing, the Rosario comes out to counterattack.
The vice president of Estudiantes,
Juan Sebastián Verón,
suffered it ;
the president of River,
Jorge Brito
;
the coach of Belgrano,
Guillermo Farré
;
Godoy Cruz's team;
Juan Pablo Fassi
, son of Andrés, president of Talleres;
Javier Zanetti
.
They were all victims of the intimidating messages.
Claudio Chiqui Tapia and Sergio Massa at the Ministry of Economy.
Photo: Telam
In return, Toviggino was the one who brought together, also through a tweet, the club leaders who came out in chorus to support
Massa
's candidacy after
Javier Milei
's intention went viral , days before the ballot that anointed him as president, to open the doors to public limited companies in Argentine soccer.
It was a blow that did not manage to erase the figure of the libertarian.
"You have to be good with Pablo"
"You always have to be on good terms with Pablo
," repeats a leader of a First Division club who knows the shifting sands of Argentine football like few others.
It is about being or not being "part of the system", as Tevez denounced this Wednesday in the press conference he offered together with the president of Independiente, Néstor Grindetti, in which he once again assured that he felt "robbed" by the arbitration of Dóvalo.
Toviggino, beyond his formal position as treasurer of the AFA, is credited with managing the referees despite the fact that
Federico Beligoy
, in his dual role as head of the Argentine Association of Referees and national director of refereeing, is the visible head of the referees.
What happened on the Huracán field is just the tip of an enormous iceberg that is replicated, multiplied and strengthened in the minor categories of Argentine soccer.
Scandalous failures are commonplace from the First National to the new Amateur Promotional and even the regional leagues.
The referees are in the spotlight and the strangest thing is that those who are targeted and questioned are the ones who climb the fastest to reach the First Division.
Maybe it's because everyone is part of that system of irregularities.
How did Toviggino get so much power?
It's the million dollar question.
Especially being a person who originally had no connection with football - his passion is horses.
The answer is his ability as a politician to forge alliances and grow silently from
Comercio Central Unidos
, a small club in Santiago del Estero.
Gerardo Zamora and Claudio Tapia, sharing a box during the 2023 Under 20 World Cup. Photo Juano Tesone / special envoy - CLARIN
From there he gained the trust of
Gerardo Zamora
, the provincial leader and now governor again, and became the face of football in the province that now has a club in the Professional League -Central Córdoba- and two in the Primera Nacional - Güemes and Mitre -, in addition to the very modern Madre de Cities stadium, which is the AFA's favorite venue for the finals and to host matches of the Argentine National Team when it plays in the Interior.
His great virtue was understanding the strength that all institutions that are not directly affiliated can have together, he rose to be one of the heads of the Federal Council, which manages more than 200 leagues and more than 3,500 clubs.
Today the main hillside of Chiqui Tapia, whom he affectionately calls "Comandante", but his growth was not only due to his proximity to Zamora and Massa.
Daniel Angelici, an ally of Mauricio Macri and today standing on the opposite sidewalk, and Hugo Moyano, leader of the Camioneros and Tapia's former father-in-law, were the ones who allowed him to jump from the Federal Council to the AFA.
Today both are out of football.
And Toviggino has more and more power.
He was first part of the Normalizing Commission that took the reins of the AFA after the scandalous 38-38 in the election between Marcelo Tinelli and Luis Segura - whom he supported at the time.
He was, along with Carolina Cristinziano - Gonzalo Belloso's partner and today vice president of Rosario Central - and Javier Medín - a lawyer close to Macri -, one of the supporters of Armando Pérez, former president of Belgrano, who had been in charge of the intervention.
From that place, Toviggino began to build power with the help of Chiqui Tapia, who had emerged as the most powerful leader of the Ascenso.
At the beginning of 2017, the man from Rosario denounced to FIFA that the Normalizing Commission was not meeting its objectives and that ended up paving the way for Tapia to be anointed as the new boss of Argentine football.
For this mission accomplished, Toviggino was named executive secretary of the AFA and at the same time president of the Federal Council.
And allies did not stop accumulating power.
Today, together, they are the two men who manage a binary Argentine football.
Successful and a money-making machine thanks to the Argentine National Team that has been strengthened since winning the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. And spurious and questioned behind closed doors, beyond the fact that at the moment all the complaints that reached Justice never reached to become sentences.