In May of this year, six months before the outbreak of the “Los Galacticos” case, the fans of the Sporting Cristal club criticized the rapprochement of its president, Joel Raffo Olcese, with the head of the Peruvian Football Federation (FPF), Agustín Lozano Saavedra, and with the Chilean company 1190 Sports, represented by Julio Gianella Raffo. It was on the occasion of the presentation of Joel Raffo and Julio Gianella at the event.
“The collaborative model that is changing the landscape of Peruvian football”, held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. One celestial fan wrote his disappointment on his “X” account:
“It is not normal for Joel Raffo Olcese to go out with Julio Gianella Raffo to talk about a business model that was implemented in a very strange way (in Peru), when Joel (and friends) is hand in hand with Lozano, and who on top of that has failed to comply with his obligations.”
Another, posting a photograph of the presentation of Joel Raffo and Julio Gianella, commented: “I invite the press that never talks about the conflict of interest of the agency-club, to at least today question in their programs what Joel Raffo does, with a permanent position in SC (Sporting Cristal), in Argentina giving talks for 1190 (Sports) at a time of crisis for his club. It’s your business, is it ethical? Thank you”.
Joel Raffo Olcese questioned the management of Agustín Lozano, and even filed four lawsuits against him before the Court of Sports Arbitration (TAS), based in Switzerland. But then he changed his mind and joined the FPF as president of the Television Rights Commission. And from criticizing Lozano’s mandate, he became an apologist for the “business model” that the FPF had set up with 1190 Sports. That’s what bothered Sporting Cristal fans.
For the prosecutor in the “Los Galacticos” case, Juan Orihuela Legonia, Agustín Lozano and Joel Raffo concocted the “business model” for their own benefit.
According to the tax indictment, Lozano first hired the Chilean company Grupo Prisma SpA to organize a tender with the purpose of choosing a company to manage the television broadcasting rights of League 1 soccer matches. Grupo Prisma SpA She was represented in Peru by Diego Delgado Raffo, who, as Joel Raffo has acknowledged, is her cousin.
By mouth
Only the Chilean 1190 Sports, represented by Julio Gianella Raffo, participated in the FPF tender, but in the end the process was deserted. So, by decision of Agustín Lozano, the FPF dealt directly with 1190 Sports. This is how the “business model” emerged, whose “qualities” Joel Raffo presented in Argentina together with Julio Gianella, who, according to his version, is not a member of his family and he did not know him before.
According to the prosecutor Orihuela, Joel Raffo Olcese annulled his demands against Agustín Lozano, and in exchange he assigned him responsibility for the “business model”, in which the FPF and 1190 Sports form an association for the sale of the rights. of transmission of the matches, and the profits are distributed according to a contract that is a secret.
Days before the appointment of Joel Raffo as president of the FPF Television Rights Commission, according to prosecutor Juan Orihuela, the president of Sporting Cristal proposed to Agustín Lozano to work as a team and withdraw from the demands presented to the TAS.
denies everything
In response to a questionnaire from La República, Joel Raffo alleged that he assumed the position, but not in a personal capacity, but as a representative of the Sporting Cristal club, and with the approval of the FPF Board of Directors, because the Rimense team occupied the order of merit in the licensing system ranking.
On April 11, 2022, Agustín Lozano, in a meeting with the Board of Directors, appointed Joel Raffo as president of the Television Rights Law Commission. On that occasion, the head of the FPF mentioned the possibility of integrating the professional clubs Melgar and Alianza Lima into some commissions so that they can work together. Both Melgar and Alianza Lima were opponents of Lozano’s administration.
In the end, the Television Rights Commission was made up of Joel Raffo, from Sporting Cristal; Rolando Bellido Aedo, from the Ayacucho Football Club; Gisella Mandriotti, from Club Cantolao, and Raúl Bao, from Deportivo Universidad San Martín de Porres. For the prosecutor Juan Orihuela, Joel Raffo was chosen by the president of the PFP, Agustín Lozano, and ratified by the Board of Directors, knowing that in said process there was a conflict of interest: the representative of the Prisma SpA Group, Diego Delgado Raffo , is the first cousin of Joel Raffo and allegedly has a family relationship with Julio Gianella Raffo, representative of 1190 Sports.
“There is no possibility of the existence of a conflict of interest. “Joel Raffo did not have any type of participation in the meetings or agreements between Grupo Prisma SpA and 1190 Sports,” Raffo responded in writing.
“As a member of the Television Rights Commission, I never had anything to do with Prisma or with the role of Diego Delgado Raffo in the signing of the contract between the consulting firm and the FPF, since it was signed in 2020, that is, two years before he joined the advisory commission,” he noted.
True, the contract was in 2020, but Grupo Prisma SpA was still working for the FPF when Joel Raffo assumed the presidency of the Television Rights Committee.
The president of Sporting Cristal recalled that precisely at that moment he was leading the opposition against the FPF, through four lawsuits before the TAS, questioning the issue of television rights and the management of Agustín Lozano. However, Joel Raffo would work together with Lozano.
On August 10, 2022, Agustín Lozano and Joel Raffo traveled to Chile together with the members of the Television Rights Commission in order to meet with the companies that will participate in the process. According to the tax investigation, the meeting took place at the offices of Grupo Prisma SpA, the company of the cousin of the president of Sporting Cristal.
As indicated, the only company that submitted to the public tender in Chile, for the award of the Television Rights for local matches, was 1190 Sports, so the process was void.
For Gisella Mandriotti, a member of the Television Rights Commission, it seemed strange that the public tender failed and that only 1190 Sports was presented as the sole bidder. This is what he said before prosecutor Juan Orihuela:
“In August 2022 we went to the tender with the restructured commission led by Joel Raffo as president of the Commission, Jean Robilliard, Rolando Bellido, Raúl Bao and myself traveled, and at the time of the tender… Oh, surprise ! Only 1190 Sports arrived (…), because in April when we went to Chile there were several companies that were super interested.”
Despite a series of irregularities and violating the FPF statutes of the public bidding, Agustín Lozano and the Board of Directors decided to continue with the process with the objective of benefiting 1190 Sports, says prosecutor Juan Orihuela.
A protected witness declared that there were irregularities in the awarding of television rights to 1190 Sports, coinciding with what Gisella Mandriotti said:
“A company with Chilean capital, called Prisma, was hired to carry out the bidding for the clubs’ television rights and this company was going to receive 17% of the total amount of the winning company. This tender was void and from one moment to the next, the company 1190 Sports appeared, which proposed a new model where they kept 30% of the profits.”
On September 21, 2022, Joel Raffo presented the 1190 Sports proposal to the FPF Board of Directors and explained the results of the public tender and the direct negotiations he had held with the Chilean company, the prosecutor concludes.
But Joel Raffo maintains that he had no participation in the hiring of 1190 Sports, but he travels abroad together with Julio Gianella to expose the “benefits” of the “business model” with the FPF. ❖
Exploded view
The sanction for opponents of 1190 Sports
● A witness revealed to prosecutor Juan Orihuela that Joel Raffo recommended to the Board of Directors the modification of the League Regulations 1-2023 based on a report prepared by Héctor Lara López, president of the Competitions Directorate, illegally created by Agustín Lozano.
● The objective was to sanction the clubs opposing the agreement between 1190 Sports and the FPF.
● “It’s false. The Competitions Advisory Commission, made up of Joel Raffo, gave a favorable opinion to the modification of the regulations so that the sanction that already existed in the regulations did not harm the sporting integrity of the competition, and thus prevent the offending clubs from being sanctioned for violating sports rules,” Joel Raffo wrote to this newspaper.
Fact
● Warning. According to the FIFA Code of Ethics, “persons subject to this code may not perform their duties (in particular, preparing and participating in decision-making) in situations in which there is a conflict of interest, whether real or possible.” , which may affect their performance.”
● Witness. The president of Sport Huancayo, Víctor Rojas Tito, told the prosecutor that Joel Raffo is closely linked to Agustín Lozano in the 1190 Sports case.
