EU’s plan for money-laundering checks on football inflamed by Chelsea claims

Recent revelations about financial misdealings at Chelsea FC have lit a fire under EU plans to make football subject to tough 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, which would potentially require major sponsors and even fans to undergo extensive vetting.

Allegations which surfaced this week of complex financial transactions undertaken by ex-Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich have given extra ammunition to those MEPs keen to put football within the rules’ purview.

“The Chelsea affair shows once again the inherent risks in the football sector,” Damien Carême, the French green-party lawmaker who is spearheading AML talks on behalf of the European Parliament, told Euronews in a statement, adding: “The fight against money laundering cannot endure any gaps … no risky economic sector can be exempted from oversight.”

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ), citing leaked documents, alleged that Abramovich made tens of millions in undisclosed payments made via offshore companies, bypassing rules intended to ensure financial fair play in the sport.

“I ask those who are against: what more proof do you need?” said Carême.

MEPs see football clubs, agents and associations as a tempting target for illicit finance, and want them to report suspicious activity to the authorities — just as banks, art dealers and diamond traders already do.

That follows a 2019 report from the Commission which highlighted the game’s “complex organisation and lack of transparency” as a money-laundering risk, and a 2020 study from EU police agency Europol which alleged match-fixing by mafia-style crime groups.

EU