🎯 Introduction – Sports as a playground for hidden money

Global sports sectors, from football clubs to international athletics, are becoming prime targets for money laundering. Transfers, sponsorships, and betting scandals layer complex financial structures. In this climate, law firms and clubs must equip themselves with legal experts who understand both athletics and AML.

⚽ 1. Transfer Scams & Overvaluation: A common laundering tactic

• Artificially inflated player valuations (example: 50M€ for unknown player).
• Circular transactions between associated agents, clubs, and families.
• Regulatory breaches under EU football finance regulations.

🧠 Legal defense strategy :

1. Demand forensic audit of transfer procedures.
2. Identify beneficiary relations across clubs.
3. Use double-entry accounting to trace actual cash flows versus documentation.

🤝 2. Sponsorship Deals & Third-Party Ownership

• Regional companies or offshore entities sponsor with insufficient KYC.
• Third-party ownership obscures real ownership of player rights.

⚖️ Legal workaround :

• Challenge lack of proper due diligence.
• Expose mismatch between sponsorship value and performance.
• Rely on CAS and UEFA compliance history to seek contract nullification.

💻 3. Betting & Match-Fixing Rings

• Syndicates use crypto/hidden currency for bets.
• Fixed matches funnel straw-man accounts to clean proceeds.

🔍 Legal defense :

• Analyze blockchain bets vs results.
• Expert testimony from ARJEL (now ANJ) and sports federations.
• Show absence of player/agent/client consent or awareness.

🧾 4. Role of PNF & TRACFIN in Sports Financial Crime

• Coordination between PNF, Europol Sports, and OLAF.
• EUSD and EU AMLD6 encouraging aggressive enforcement.
• Dossiers often include phone taps, bank seizures, UBO circles.

🛡️ Criminal defense :

• Verify legal grounds of phone seizures.
• Challenge asset freezing orders.
• Leverage procedural nullities in EU cooperation channels.

🧑‍⚖️ 5. Why engage Me Nicolas PAGANELLI for sports AML cases ?

• Proven experience with club executives, agents, athletes.
• Pluridisciplinary team: sports forensic accountants, data analysts, forensic legal experts.
• Legal strategy: early investigation, defensive audits, crisis PR coordination, and clean resolution (settlement/closure).

🏁 Sample Case: Football Transfer Fraud

• €40M transfer, 3 clubs, suspiciously high agent fee.
• Inter-agency raid and seizure.
• Defense strategy :
  1. Audit fee for compliance.
  2. Challenge transfer legality.
  3. Negotiate deferred fine with PNF + CAS approval.
• Outcome: transfer validated, corporate fine only, no criminal record.

📌 Conclusion: Protect your team, preserve your sport

Money laundering in sports can devastate reputations and careers. You need an AML-savvy criminal defense lawyer who blends technical financial investigation with tactical defense.

🔹 Me Nicolas PAGANELLI, Paris-based sports AML specialist, offers the elite defense your organization deserves.

🌐 Visit: www.avocatpaganelli.fr
📍 Office in Paris – International Clients Welcome
🗣️ English spoken fluently – Global expertise in complex cases