The name of Javier Faroni returned to the center of the public scene after the raids carried out at the AFA, where Justice found a contract with a company linked to his environment that, according to the investigation, kept a 30 percent commission. The episode reactivated old statements by the theater entrepreneur, recorded in interviews with NOTICIAS, which today acquire a new reading in light of the facts.
In 2015, in a note published under the title “In politics everything is bad and dark”Faroni was deeply skeptical of the political world. There he stated that politics was permeated by opaque practices and that it was an area where “the rules are not clear to anyone.” Although he clarified that he was not active in any space, he hinted at his interest in power and his closeness with leaders of different stripes, whom he said he had known “for many years.”
Four years later, in 2019, in another interview with NOTICIAS titled “The scandal does not sell tickets”Faroni returned to the theme of power, this time from the angle of entertainment and business. In that conversation he seemed upset by the media exposure and maintained that the scandals did not contribute anything positive to either the theater or cultural management. However, at the same time, he recognized that the link between businessmen, leaders and politics was inevitable, and that transparency was a proclaimed value but difficult to sustain in practice.
In both interviews, Faroni left strong definitions about the need for clear rules, although he also admitted that the system often worked based on informal agreements and personal relationships. He even suggested that, if necessary, he would not rule out becoming more actively involved in politics if that allowed certain sectors to be “organized.”
These statements are circulating strongly again today after the revelation of a contract found in the AFA raids, which links a company related to Faroni with a million-dollar commission scheme. According to the judicial investigation, the agreement would have established a percentage of 30 percent, a fact that fuels suspicions about the lack of transparency in the internal management of Argentine soccer.
The connection between those interviews and the present judicial case exposes an uncomfortable continuity. What Faroni described years ago as a “dark” system crossed by crossed interests now appears reflected in a specific cause that involves him in an uncomfortable way. In this intersection between past speeches and current events, his words are once again read not only as opinions, but as part of a network of power that today is under the magnifying glass of Justice.
