Professional football ends up in the crosshairs of anti-money laundering European. The pages delve deeper into the topic The sun 24 hours, which returns to the decision of the European Parliament. Last Tuesday, Strasbourg approved new rules on the matter, with football as the main one target.
In particular, I am targeting the purchase and sale of footballers, the financing of professional football clubs, sponsorships and all operations with agents or other intermediaries. This is a self-implementing directive, which will therefore become law in all member countries within 36 months following its publication in the Official European Journal, regardless of the adaptation of national legislation. Established ad hoc also an anti-money laundering authority.
Reasons such as “the global popularity of football, the considerable amounts, the cash flows and financial interests involved, the prevalence of cross-border operations and, sometimes, opaque ownership structures” are what shines a light on professional football. The obligation to trace operations will fall to all professional clubs, with the exception of those with a turnover of less than 5 million euros. Member States, however, will also be able to provide stricter rules. All economic entities operating in football – from members to agents – must be subjected to an adequate verification of their customers, with the aim of understanding the actual ownership and control structure of the customer. In the event of a negative verification, agents and presidents must refrain from closing the deal and report the attempted suspicious transaction.
