A no-holds-barred exposé on the financial transactions of the
world's favourite sport
The transfer fees clubs pay to sign top players now top 4 billion a year
but much of the money has been flowing out of the game. A small group of
wealthy investors including Russian oligarchs, English racehorse owners
and a former billionaire gold miner have seized the opportunity to enter
this booming market.
Some have moved in on the territory of banks and lent money to clubs in
exchange for a share in fees generated by Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and
dozens more of today's stars. Others have acquired obscure teams to get
a piece of the pie.
Even as the global financial crisis sent fortunes tumbling this select
group found a profitable place to park their money. The size of the
transfer market has continued to rise -- it increased seven-fold in
value the last two decades, more than the FTSE share index.
Between them, these wealthy investors have amassed hundreds of millions
of euros in profits. At the same time, they have managed to stay out of
the spotlight the world's most popular sport brings.
Football's Secret Trade follows the money along a trail very few know
about, from nondescript offices in the U.K. and ramshackle stadiums of
South American clubs you have probably never heard of to offshore bank
accounts in the Caribbean. Warning - you won't see a major transfer deal
in the same light again.
