DIS Investment Fund: “Serious breach of FIFA regulations” Stories of this kin are going to become part and parcel of the next phase in the modern game. As investment groups and wealthy individuals have discovered the huge return on investment in footballing talent, third party ownership is running rampant, particularly in South America. Combine these new stakeholders with the already overly powerful agent, and the financial dealings involved in signing new players become more and more murky. One such interested party is now stirring up trouble by blatantly accusing FC Barcelona of breaching regulations in the signing of Neymar. Josep Maria Bartomeu, vice-president of sports, in an attempt of transparency divulged publicly that Neymar cost the Catalan club €57 million total, including a 10 million advanced payment done a year earlier. In discussing the dealings Bartomeu said: ”The negotiations were very long and sometimes quite difficult, involving four parties – Santos, DIS, Teisa and another sporting consultancy“. This “another” is believed to be an agency called “N&N“, controlled by Neymar’s father. Bartomeu added that how much money went to whom was “a matter of confidentiality“, but now one of these percentage holders are not happy with their payout. This stakeholder is DIS and their complaint has been voiced by executive director Roberto Moreno, who spoke with Catalan radio station RAC1 and said it’s his belief Barça broke FIFA rules with that 10 million advanced payment. “Barça recognised that they advanced €10 million when Neymar was a Santos player. This is a serious breach of FIFA regulations because the player was then under contract at Santos“. Now in truth that really isn’t their gripe. I doubt they could care less but for their claim they received less money than their 40% holdings in Neymar should mandate. 40% of 57 million is around € 22.8 million. Roberto Moreno told RAC1 that DIS has received just € 9.6 million, 42% of what they believe legally entitled to. This is because apparently Santos claimed to them the transfer value was only 17 million (i.e. 9.6 is 40% of 17). So then when Bartomeu declared Monday the total transfer was valued at € 57 million the cat was out of the bag. “We [DIS] saw on the television that Barça have said the transfer was done for €57 million. And here Santos are talking about €17 million. We feel tricked. Santos is leaving out the truth so that the investors receive less.” Now whether Moreno’s and DIS’s grievance is with FC Barcelona or Santos is another issue, though for the limited information above it appears more the Brazilian club. But, as mentioned initially, as the ownership percentages and channels become more variable and then one factors global tax issues and present valuing, the figures become much more textured than simply 57 million. Source: ESPNFC Admin andreww
Posted on: Wed, 05 Jun 2013 16:51:20 +0000
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