EU plan to control money laundering in football ignited by Chelsea claims

Lawmakers say allegations of wrongdoing by ex-owner Roman Abramovich lend credence to their crusade against dirty money in sports, though others urge caution

Recent revelations about financial malfeasance at Chelsea FC have sparked EU plans to subject football to strict anti-money laundering restrictions.

EU negotiators are locked in a battle over whether to include football clubs, agents and associations under the bloc’s anti-money laundering (AML) rules, potentially requiring major sponsors to and even supporters submit to in-depth scrutiny.

Allegations which surfaced this week regarding complex financial dealings undertaken by former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich have given further ammunition to MEPs keen to bring football within the scope of the rules.

“The Chelsea affair once again shows the risks inherent in the football sector,” Damien Carême, the French Green MP who is leading the AML negotiations on behalf of the European Parliament, told L’Observatoire de l’Europe, adding: “The fight against money laundering cannot tolerate any loopholes… no risky economic sector can be exempted from surveillance.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ), citing leaked documents, claimed that Abramovich made tens of millions in undisclosed payments through offshore companies, circumventing rules intended to ensure financial fair play in sports.

“I ask those who are against: what more evidence do you need? Lent said.

MEPs see football clubs, agents and associations as tempting targets for illicit financing and want them to report any suspicious activity to authorities – just as banks, art dealers and diamond traders already do.

This follows a 2019 Commission report that highlighted the game’s “complex organization and lack of transparency” as a money laundering risk, and a 2020 study by European police agency Europol that alleged match-fixing by mafia-style criminal groups.

EU member states in the Council are less convinced. In a closed-door meeting on Tuesday, November 14, known as the trilogue, MEPs and Council members met to debate the final text of the AML law.

They discussed but did not reach an agreement on the football issue, three sources informed of the discussions told L’Observatoire de l’Europe. The BITJ’s confidential Cyprus reports were released a few hours later, followed by Abramovich’s story early Wednesday morning.

Same goal

UEFA, European football’s governing body, told L’Observatoire de l’Europe it shared the aim of tackling financial crime and protecting the integrity of the game, but urged the EU not to rush into regulations.

“EU policymakers should engage appropriately with football stakeholders to assess impacts and develop policy options that meet our shared objectives,” a UEFA spokesperson said in a statement. emailed statement, warning that poorly drafted laws could have “unintended consequences across the diverse landscape of European football.”

This could draw on the experience of Belgium – which adopted new AML rules for football after a 2018 scandal dubbed “Operation Zero”, in which prosecutors investigated allegedly suspicious financial transactions targeting clubs like Anderlecht, Bruges and Standard Liège.

The Belgian regime offers a warning, Niels Appermont, associate professor at Hasselt University, told L’Observatoire de l’Europe.

“The existing framework doesn’t really correspond to the activities of professional football,” Appermont said, because the rules are designed for banks and not for sport.

Even though anti-money laundering rules require checks on their “clients”, it is not always clear what this means for, say, an incoming player transfer, nor to what extent screening procedures potentially Long fits into the tight deadlines of a transfer window, Appermont said.

William Bull, an assistant professor at Maastricht University who, alongside Appermont, co-authored a 2022 UEFA-funded study into Belgian law, acknowledged the football market’s problems – but dismissed questioned whether AML rules were the right way to go.

In the football sector, “everyone seems to be pretty much in agreement that there is a problem in terms of transparency, credibility, concerns about various secret transactions or payments through ‘agents,’ Bull said, but added that ‘the jury is still out.’ the question of whether existing financial schemes are cost-effective.

Chelsea did not immediately respond to L’Observatoire de l’Europe’s request for comment, but in a statement provided to TBIJ said the allegations predated the club’s current ownership and that the club had reported potentially incomplete financial reporting to football regulators. Representatives for Abramovich, who was forced to sell Chelsea last year after being sanctioned for his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, did not respond to requests for comment, the TBIJ said.