Money Laundering and Tax Evasion in football.

• Author: Blackshaw, Ian
• Position: OPINION

Football is not only the world's favourite game, but also the world's most lucrative sport. In fact, according to Sepp Blatter, the President of FIFA, football's world governing body, it is actually a product in its own right. Therein lies its success and also the seeds of its potential downfall, if it loses touch with its sporting objectives and also its constituents - particularly its fans and players at the grass roots' level.

With so much money sloshing around and at stake - both on and off the field of play - it is not surprising that football is vulnerable or susceptible to exploitation by unscrupulous businessmen and criminals, as the July 1 2009 Report on Money Laundering and Tax Evasion in Football of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)(the full FATF Report can be downloaded from their website at: 'www.fatf-gafi.org'), an international agency, responsible for tracking down the proceeds of crime, of the OECD - Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development based in Paris - which has been waging war on money launderers and tax dodgers for several years - has pointed out. Money laundering, that is, turning 'black' unusable money resulting from criminal activities into 'white' usable money and tax evasion - not tax avoidance, which is so organising/arranging one's financial affairs as to reduce or mitigate the resulting tax burden, which is perfectly legal - are illegal. And, in fact, are complex criminal offences and punishable as such.

So, what has this Report, in the compiling of which both FIFA and UEFA, the governing body for European football, have been consulted and have cooperated, brought to light? And why are its findings so important for sport in general and football in particular?

Perhaps the best way of summarising the findings and the extent of the problem in football is to quote from the Report's so-called Executive Summary as follows:

"The study analyses several cases that illustrate the use of the football sector as a vehicle for laundering the proceeds of criminal activities. After this analysis, money laundering (ML) through the football sector is revealed to be deeper and more complex than previously understood. Indeed, this analysis appears to show that there is more than anecdotal evidence indicating that a variety of money flows and /or financial transactions may increase the risk of ML through football. These are related to the ownership of football clubs or players, the transfer market, betting...