European Parliament designates professional soccer teams as entities subject to money laundering controls

The European Parliament has passed a new bill to regulate money laundering, which will impose stricter regulations on professional soccer teams, which have become hotbeds of money laundering.

New EU rules to combat money-laundering adopted | News | European Parliament
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20240419IPR20586/

Criminals and oligarchs in EU's sights with new bill targeting football fraud | Finances | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/apr/23/european-union-money-laundering-crime-corruption-uefa

A bill to regulate money laundering was adopted by the European Parliament on April 24, 2024. The bill includes a provision requiring designated entities to report suspicious transactions to authorities. Designated entities include banks, virtual currency exchanges, real estate agents, etc.

In addition, from 2029, professional soccer teams will also be included in the 'designated entities,' which will require them to verify the identity of the other party in any financial transactions, including those with sponsors and investors, and to report any suspicious transactions to the authorities.

According to the foreign media The Guardian, the trend of regulating professional soccer teams in Europe began in Belgium. A large-scale corruption investigation of professional soccer teams conducted in Belgium from 2017 to 2019 revealed that about 60 coaches, managers, and others were involved in corruption, including money laundering. In response to the results of the investigation in Belgium, the European Union added professional soccer teams to its money laundering watchlist. In addition, a 2021 United Nations (PDF file) survey estimated that about $140 billion (about 21.7 trillion yen) is laundered through soccer around the world annually, and there was a growing momentum for regulations on professional soccer teams.

Belgium had enacted its own anti-money laundering regulations targeting professional soccer teams prior to the adoption by the European Parliament, but some professional soccer teams were slow to comply with the regulations. In light of this situation, the proposed regulation adopted by the European Parliament gives professional soccer teams a five-year grace period to begin implementing the regulations.

Although professional soccer teams in the UK are not under the jurisdiction of the European Parliament, some insiders predict that if restrictions are imposed in the EU, the UK government will also impose similar restrictions.