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Drug trafficking and investment in a football club Mr Heep, a person of humble origins living in
a small town in the interior of the country migrated overseas, returning 5 years later with a lot of money and ownership of various companies in the border area (businesses that require investments of large amounts of money which obviously were not in his purchasing power). Later Mr Heep acquired a football team which was at that point languishing in the third division. The team was not an attractive investment. One advantage was its location in a major city in the country; however, Mr Heep moved the team to a small town of barely 30,000 inhabitants, where it could expect lower profitability because of the smaller numbers of followers. This activity showed all the indicators of a non-profitable business; however, the salaries and infrastructure paid under this new administration were well above the average of other teams in the same category, and the sponsoring companies were known for their low financial solvency. It is presumed that the payment of high salaries, infrastructure and the alleged sponsorship were aimed at increasing the value of the franchise in order to legitimise its investors as recognised entrepreneurs and important people in sports sector. The team rose from third to second division in a year. Later, the investor was identified as the leader of a drug trafficking network.

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https://www.therichest.com/sports/top-10-alleged-match-fixingbribery-scandals-in-sports-history/

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Related to sector's structure:
1. The market is easy to penetrate
2. Complicated networks of stakeholders
3.  Management lacks professionalism
4. Diversity of legal structures

Related to the sector's finance:
1. Considerable sums are involved
2.  Irrational character of the sums involved and unpredictability over future results
3. Financial needs of football clubs

Related to the sector's culture:
1. Social vulnerability of some players
2. Societal role of football
3. Non-material rewards

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If we want to examine money laundering through sport, football is an obvious candidate. Football is by far the biggest sport in the world. There are 38 million registered players and 5 million referees and officials. Football is played all over the world and is the most popular sport in many countries. Football has changed from a popular sport into a global industry with an increasing economic impact at the top and important social functions at lower levels. Party due to the industry’s growth, football seems to be confronted with various forms of crime and corruption, including money laundering.

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What is the business of football worth? | Made in Germany

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When the Euro 2016 kicks off on 10 June 2016, it'll be party time - not only for the fans but for business. Soccer is of course big business. Every player tries to boost his market value. Clubs, bookies, beer brewers and many others all vie for a cut.

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Sports governing bodies as well as national and international authorities recently expressed their concerns on the inflow of dirty money into the sporting industry. The EU White Paper on Sport ( the first EU Community document to recognise the importance of sport in European Society) stated that ‘’sport is confronted with new threats and challenges, such as commercial pressure, exploitation of young players, doping, corruption, racism, illegal gambling, violence, money laundering and other activities detrimental to the sport’’.
Connections that criminal seek to make with sport are not only motivated by the desire to gain money. Social prestige is another important factor. Popular sports can be a route for criminals to become ‘celebrities’ by associating with famous people and moving upwards to powerful circles within established society.

Sports that can be vulnerable to money laundering problems are either big sports (worldwide like football or on a national basis like basketball, cricket or ice hockey) sports like boxing, kick-boxing (sports that have traditionally links with the criminal milieu because of the relationship between crime and violence), high value sports (such as horse and car racing) which give criminals the opportunity to turn cash into non-cash assets or to convert small into large bills

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Definition: money laundering is the process of creating the appearance that large amounts of money obtained from criminal activity originated from a legitimate source. The money from the illicit activity is considered dirty and the process ‘’launders’’ the money to make it look clean. A simple definition of money laundering would be a series of financial transactions that are intended to transform ill-gotten gains into legitimate money or other assets.

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Money laundering and sport- introduction

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Money laundering and sport- introduction

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Criminals have shown adaptability in finding new channels to launder the proceeds of their illegal activities and sports is one of the many sectors that are at risk of being inflicted with criminal money.

With the growing economic importance of sports during the last two decades, especially football, money gradually started to exert a strong influence on the world of sports. In order to get a better understanding, i will identify the vulnerabilities which make the football sector attractive to criminals. These are mainly related to the structure, the financing and the culture of this sector.