By Andrew Warshaw
May 23 – In a major development apparently linked to the ongoing United States probe into football-related corruption, former Barcelona president Sandro Rosell has been arrested, along with his wife, as part of a money laundering investigation.
Spanish authorities say Rosell’s detention concerns buying television rights for past matches of Brazil’s national team. Those television rights were sold via Swiss-based TV rights sales agency Kantaro. Three other people have reportedly been detained, but their identities were not immediately released.
Agency reports said police raided offices, homes, and businesses in Barcelona and other locations in Spain as part of ‘Operation Rimet’, in reference to former FIFA president Jules Rimet. The operation reportedly used information from the FBI.
According to Spanish reports, the country’s National Court ordered the probe into Rosell’s activities, and a joint task force comprised of the civil guard and police arrested him and his wife after the investigation allegedly indicated he “collected irregular commissions, obtained through the sale of the image rights of the Brazilian football team.”
To avoid him being caught, the money collected was then allegedly laundered through fictitious companies established in tax havens.
Rosell worked with the Brazilian Football Confederation prior to becoming Barca president in 2010. He was manager of sporting goods giants Nike in Brazil and oversaw the Nike contract for the national team. According to El Mundo, that is the period when the alleged wrongdoing took place, apparently through his company, Ailanto Marketing.
The Nike deal with Brazil has been one leg of the US Department of Justice investigation into football corruption.
Back in 2014, Rosell, who once held a key position in the European Club Association, resigned as Barca boss after four years in charge when it was alleged he misappropriated funds from the €57 million signing of Neymar from Brazilian club Santos. Barca club member Jordi Cases claimed that the amount paid was more than the fee reported at the time.
That case was closed when Barca made a tax declaration of €13.5 million “to cover any potential interpretation made concerning the contracts signed in the transfer process for Neymar, although we remain convinced that the original tax payment was in line with our fiscal obligations.”
However a separate case into the Neymar transfer remains very much open, with Brazilian investment company DIS, which owned 40% of Neymar’s rights when he moved to Spain, claiming it was denied its fair share because part of the transfer fee was concealed by Barcelona, Santos and the Neymar family. As part of that case, Rosell is due to stand trial on fraud and corruption charges along with Neymar, his father, and another ex-Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu. All have denied the charges but ever since Neymar moved, the deal has been shrouded in mystery over alleged irregularities.
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