Study on Money Laundering through the Football Sector

The FATF report examines the football sector in economic and social terms and provides case examples identifying areas that could be exploited by those who want to invest illegal money into football. Vulnerable areas relate to ownership of football clubs or players, the transfer market, betting activities, image rights and sponsoring and advertising arrangements.

The goal of the report is to draw attention to some of the risks facing the football sector in particular (and the sport sector in general) regarding misuse by criminals, so that Government policy makers, law enforcement bodies, the financial sector and sports regulatory authorities can better understand and deal with this problem.

The report presents some policy recommendations, including the need to raise awareness.

The European Commission welcomes the report. In its 2007 White Paper on Sport, the Commission indicated that corruption, money laundering and other forms of financial crime should be tackled ("Pierre de Coubertin" Action Plan, actions nos. 44 and 45):

(44) The Commission will support public-private partnerships representative of sports interests and anti-corruption authorities, which would identify vulnerabilities to corruption in the sport sector and assist in the development of effective preventive and repressive strategies to counter such corruption.

(45) The Commission will continue to monitor the implementation of EU anti-money laundering legislation in the Member States with regard to the sport sector.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an inter-governmental body whose purpose is the development and promotion of policies, both at national and international levels, to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

Further information:
FATF-GAFI web page to download full report