Football added to EU money laundering list

Professional football has been added to the EU’s money-laundering risk watchlist. The European Commission said this week that the complex structure and lack of transparency in the game 'created a fertile ground for the use of illegal resources'. They added that 'questionable sums of money with no apparent or explicable financial return or gain are being invested in the sport'.

The Commission’s report into money-laundering identified football, along with 47 other goods and services, as an area that could be exploited by criminals.

The decision follows a scandal in Belgium last year when federal prosecutors started an investigation into allegations of illicit fees paid to players and referees.

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The Political Economy of Football V2

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