Romain Molina, the French journalist who shakes the AFA and the FIFA in the middle of the 2026 World Cup

In the middle of the World Cup 2026, the name of Romain Molina – in Spanish often cited as Román Molina – once again lit up the networks. The French investigative journalist, specialized in international football scandals, returned to one of his most explosive investigations: an alleged scheme of diversion of funds and institutional cover-up that would involve the Argentine Football Association (AFA) and senior officials of FIFA. His video and media coverage such as TUDN and Periódico AM revived the interest just when Argentina was playing the quarterfinals on American soil.

The complaint: 42 million euros and a Miami company

In a video broadcast on his YouTube channel and collected by media such as AM Newspaper and TUDN, Molina maintains that more than 42 million euros of the approximately 300 million that the AFA would have received after winning Qatar 2022 were allegedly diverted through a network of shell companies registered in jurisdictions such as Wyoming, Delaware, Bariloche and the British Virgin Islands.

The focus of the report is a contract signed nine days before the final of the 2022 World Cup, through which the AFA would have transferred 30% of its World Cup commercial income to TourPro Enter LLC, a Miami-based firm created a few months before and, according to Molina, with no experience in football. Khelnow identifies the agents behind the agreement as Javier Horacio Faroni and Erica Gabriela Gillette, with an international commercial agent contract exclusive until the end of 2026.

«Messi's goals have served the interests of people who have nothing to do with football.»

The journalist claims that FIFA would have transferred part of those funds directly to TourPro Enter under instructions from managers, even though their audits would not have reflected the irregularities. He also denounces internal pressure—including the then legal director Emilio García Silvero—to avoid disciplinary sanctions against the Argentine federation.

Who is Romain Molina?

Born on May 3, 1991 in Lyon, Molina grew up in a family of maraichers (gardeners) in Isère and was self-taught in sports journalism, according to his profile on Wikipedia and CentroMx. He published his first investigation for CNN at the age of 21; Since then he has signed on The New York Times, The Guardian, BBC, Le Temps and France Football.

His history includes major scandals:

• Haiti (2020): co-author of the Guardian investigation into sexual abuse in the Haitian federation; Yves Jean-Bart was banned for life by FIFA.
• France (2020-2022): reports in the NYT on “toxic culture” in the FFF; in Josimar, “40 years of silence” on child abuse.
• Gabon and Africa: reports of abuse of minors in soccer academies.
• World Cup 2026: on Le Média (July 7, 2026) analyzed Donald Trump's intervention in the suspension of Folarin Balogun and questioned the independence of FIFA.

Molina has faced defamation lawsuits from French football figures – some filed, such as that of Christophe Galtier in 2025 – and defines himself more as a humanist than as an activist, according to interviews collected in his biography.

The intersection with the FBI: two fronts, the same financial labyrinth

Molina's accusations do not occur in a vacuum. According to La Nación, the FBI and prosecutors Federal authorities of the United States maintain a preliminary investigation into financial operations of the AFA in North American territory for some 300 million dollars channeled through TourProdEnter LLC and banks such as Citibank, Bank of America and JPMorgan. MARGENEZ collected the detail in our coverage of the FBI-AFA case.

So far, the AFA has not issued an official position on Molina's allegations. The journalist's statements remain in the realm of journalistic investigation: there are no formal charges or judicial ruling linked to this specific report. But the temporal coincidence – World Cup in the US, active federal investigation and viral video – explains why any Argentine match is read today under the magnifying glass of previous financial scandals.

Why it matters now

Molina is not an anonymous tweeter: he is an investigator with a verifiable history of abuses, corruption and federal mismanagement. His work on the AFA mixes contractual documentation, testimonies and tracking of offshore companies — the same methodology he used to demolish domes in Haiti or expose the FFF. If the US authorities advance in parallel, the French journalist will have fulfilled his function: putting on the table what the official audiences did not show.

Meanwhile, the summaries on social networks amplify an uncomfortable message: that Messi's triumph in Qatar 2022 could have financed, according to this hypothesis, interests outside of sport. The judicial truth, if it arrives, will take time. The controversy, however, is already in the semifinals.