The following is an excerpt from an Associated Press article. Obviously I can't certify everything reported is accurate, but many consider the AP among the more reputable news sources. Whether "low bidder" actually was the sole reason for hiring LaMia (or whether there was a "recommendation" or "other consideration") is beyond the scope of the article.
AFA hired firm to fly Argentine team without knowing plane
By LUIS ANDRES HENAO
Associated Press
Dec 2, 2016
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- Argentina's Football Association hired a company that charters flights to transport superstar Lionel Messi and the rest of the national team for a World Cup qualifying game without knowing the name of the airline or the model of the plane, an official said Friday.
The plane was the same British Aerospace 146 Avro RJ85 jet operated by Bolivia-based charter company LaMia that later crashed in Colombia, killing 71 people, including most of a Brazilian soccer team.
Argentine Football Association spokesman Miguel Hirsch said Friday the AFA was forced to look for options for a roundtrip Buenos Aires-Belo Horizonte flight after the plane they often use from the Andes airline was sent for technical revisions.
The Associated Press had access to offer sheets that six companies presented.
None mentioned the name of the airline.
But the one that the AFA's national team department chose for $99,000 was the cheapest one and the only one that did not provide the model of the plane.
The second least expensive offer was about $3,000 less. [Note: that probably should read "$3,000 more"]
"I suppose that since the AFA is going through financial troubles, it was a question of costs," Hirsch said in an interview with The AP.