Football is victim of money laundering

A Financial Action Task Force report says British football is being used as a conduit for money laundering. The FATF, which is responsible for tracking down financial crime, says that clubs, player transfers and betting are all at risk from criminal activities. According to the BBC, which has seen the report, it also gives a rare insight into tax evasion in British football. Human trafficking, corruption, drug trafficking are also all concerns related to the sport. In one case highlighted by the FATF, 'a disclosure was made by a player, revealing that his signing-on fee was disguised as part of a fee to a foreign agent. He confirmed that the agent then paid him £300,000 abroad and did not previously disclose this to the UK tax authorities.' The benefit to the club in this case is that it avoided social security contributions of £38,000. In another case reported, a club avoided paying tax through the use of image rights. The report offers a series of recommendations on how the sport can deal with risks from money laundering.
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