FOOTBALL LEAKS: The key revelations
european super league: discussed by seven leading clubs
Documents alleged a draft document for a European Super League was sent to Real Madrid executives in December 2015.
The plans would involve 17 teams from England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France, plus one club from Portugal, Russia, Holland or Turkey.
The league would operate outside existing league structures, running for 34 weeks, with games on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, with a knockout round at the end of the season.
It was alleged that seven clubs – Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Manchester United, Arsenal and Milan – would form a working party to develop the plans.
The documents also alleged Bayern’s lawyers examined whether they could withdraw from the Bundesliga and if the club would have to permit its players to play international football if they were competing in a breakaway league.
Manchester city: private deals of emirati owners
Leaked documents alleged that City created a shell company, Fordham Sports Management, in a bid to circumvent Financial Fairplay regulations introduced by UEFA president Michel Platini.
Fordham allegedly paid fees to players for image rights and was reimbursed by City’s owner in Abu Dhabi. This is alleged to have allowed City to save 30million in marketing spending – money that did not appear in the club’s official accounts seen by UEFA. It was alleged that UEFA was told that City had not seen Fordham’s business plan – even though City staff sat on the board of directors. The project was termed “Project Longbow” after the longbow used by the English to defeat the French at the Battle of Agincourt.
Leaked documents also alleged City’s sponsorship deals were “topped up” with cash from Abu Dhabi. In the case of lead sponsor Etihad, the airline is alleged to have paid only £8m of the annual deal, with the remaining £59.5m paid by Sheikh Mansour’s holding company.
Former City coach Roberto Mancini is alleged to have received a second salary, for acting as a “consultant” to Al Jazira, the Emirati club owned by Sheikh Mansour. In addition to his £1.45m annual salary with City, it is alleged he received a £1.75m annual stipend from Al Jazira.
Leaked documents alleged City signed an agreement with Danish Superliga club Nordsjaelland, allowing them to recruit African players for free. Such an arrangement is likely to have broken FIFA rules on third-party ownership.
When City signed Carlos Tevez from Manchester United in 2009 the £47m is alleged to have been paid to a private company registered in British Virgin Islands, an offshore tax haven.
paris saint-Germain: Qatar ownership in the spotlight
PSG’s five-year sponsorship agreement with the Qatar Tourism Authority was officially valued at 1.075billion, or 215 million a year. But leaked documents revealed that “two independent auditors assigned by UEFA valued the contract at...€123,000 per year for one, and 2.8m a year for the other”.
According to leaked documents, PSG scouts illegally profiled the ethnic origins of potential young recruits. The club’s non-Paris-based scouts are alleged to have listed the ethnic origins of possible recruits in four categories: “Francais” (French), “Maghrebin” (north African), “Antillais” (West Indian), and “Afrique noire” (black African).
It is alleged midfielder Yann Gboho, who plays for France under-18s, was disregarded by PSG at the age of 13 because he was black.
As part of the world record-breaking deal to sign Neymar in 2017, PSG allegedly paid 10.7m in commission to the two agents involved: Neymar Senior and Israeli intermediary Pini Zahavi.
Documents also claimed PSG players get “ethical bonuses” of up to 375,000 for applauding fans at the end of games.
Gianni Infantino: double life as UEFA boss
When UEFA general secretary, Infantino took a tough public stance against clubs who broke the European body’s Financial Fairplay rules. But in private, leaked documents alleged that he played a key role in reducing FFP punishments for PSG and Manchester City.
Infantino is alleged to have sent latenight private emails to City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak in which he wrote: “You will see that I’ve sometimes chosen a wording which ‘looks’ more ‘strong’.’”
UEFA reached settlement agreements with both Manchester City and Paris
Saint-Germain in mid-May 2014. Neither club was banned from European competition. Instead, 20m fines were imposed.
Both clubs received letters from UEFA’s Investigatory Chamber informing them of their punishments. But the letters were not signed by chief investigator Brian Quinn. He reportedly resigned from his post at UEFA because he considered the punishments too lenient.
UEFA, under Infantino’s leadership, is also alleged to have ignored financial doping at leading Russian club Zenit, while smaller club Rubin Kazan were banned from European competition for two years despite committing a lesser offence.
Chelsea: under investigation over teenage deals
Leaked documents alleged that the London club signed Burkina Faso forward Bertrand Traore, who is now at Lyon, before he turned 18, thus breaking FIFA regulations on signing teenage players.
Traore played for Chelsea at the age of 16 in an under-18 game against Arsenal. It is also alleged that Chelsea paid Traore’s mother £155,000 in April 2011 for a first-refusal option to sign him. A further £13,000 was paid to the club AJE Bobo-Dioulasso, which was chaired by Traore’s mother.
It was also claimed that the agreement was an option for four-and-a-half years when the limit for players under the age of 18 is three years.
Leaked documents also alleged that Sten Christensen, who is the father of the club’s Danish defender Andreas Christensen, received a total of £600,000 over the years for working as a scout. Christensen joined Chelsea on the same day, July 1 2012, that his son, then aged 15, also signed for the club.
FIFA regulations allow clubs to sign under-18 players if family members are offered employment. However, Premier League rules prohibit incentives being paid to under-18 players or their families.
Monaco: wheeling and dealing
Documents alleged Portuguese agent Jorge Mendes received a 9m fee from Monaco for negotiating a possible move for striker Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid in summer 2017. The player opted to move to Paris Saint-Germain, but Mendes was rewarded for helping push up the eventual price paid by PSG.
Owner Dimitry Rybolovlev allegedly tried to hide his subsidies to the club behind fictional marketing contracts and an offshore shell company.
Vadim Vasilyev, the club vicepresident, is alleged to earn 10 per cent on all player sale profits.
A 4m fee for a friendly was allegedly
Agents: Lemic, Zahavi, Mendes and Solbakken in the spotlight
According to leaked documents, Vladica Lemic, the Belgium-based agent of Luka Modric, is alleged to have made secret payments to the Bosnian bank account of his brother, Zoran Lemic. Tax rates are considerably lower in Bosnia than in Belgium.
Leaked documents allege that Pini Zahavi, the Israeli agent, remained a key decision-maker at Mouscron, the Belgian club that he was reported to have sold in January 2016. In November 2018, when Monaco were reported to be considering the purchase of Mouscron for use as a satellite club, Zahavi is alleged to have still been the de-facto owner of Mouscron.
Portuguese agent Jorge Mendes is alleged to have earned more than £6m in secret commissions from a series of transfers at Besiktas.
Norwegian agent Jim Solbakken was alleged to have been paid by both player and club for the transfer of Mame Biram Diouf from Hanover to Stoke City.
N’Golo Kante: one of the good guys
According to leaked documents, the Chelsea midfielder did not want Chelsea to pay the fees for his image rights into an offshore account.
“You will see that I’ve sometimes chosen a wording which ‘looks’ more ‘strong’ ” Alleged email from Infantino to Manchester City