Ah right
Yeh, I'm not that surprised. I dont know if it applies to the big clubs though. I mean, dont get me wrong, Abrahamovic didnt buy Chelsea for his love of sport, but its not laundering criminal money IN THE SENSE of the article above (obviously the source of the money, etc, is all suspect but in a bit of a different way). I'd assume Utd/Arsenal/Liverpool are fine as well - very rich but with fairly clear ownership.
I could see it being a major problem in the Championship, for example, though. Presumably far less scrutiny on ownership and lower valuations + shot of getting into the premiership.
Actually, super interesting, I did some googling:
It hit on a few things I mentioned in the other thread:
3 It is achieved through a variety of means, notably manipulating club accounts by inflating income from ticket sales, buying empty spectator seats, inventing a fake revenue stream and engaging in the developing of property near stadiums. The international market for transferring players can also be a vehicle for money-laundering, as the overvaluation of a player is similar to the moneylaundering protocol of inflating invoices for goods and services. 4
Nice to know my money laudering radar isn't too off target!
One thing that is risky/will be interesting - the new UK UWO (Unexplained Wealth Orders) - they can issue them on any assets owned in the UK and basically take ownership of the asset, putting a burden of proof on the asset's owner to justify the source of their wealth. It is mainly used on politically sensitive people, but at least one case in the UK was used to confiscate the assets of a criminal gang linked money launderer.
It's not pervasive yet, only a very small number of cases, but it is a major tool in the arsenal - I almost wouldnt be surprised if, at some point, they strted throwing them out there and shifting burden of proof onto owners in a more systemtaic way.