Abstract

The paper takes the move from the recent (2018) essay by the global study jointly undertaken by the International Association of Lawyers (UIA) in partnership with the ICSS INSIGHT and the Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA). Shockingly, the preliminary findings of that study reveal that only three countries have a dedicated body that has specific oversight of investment and ownership in its football clubs and only two nations are able to fully track and monitor the money behind club investments and ownership. Meanwhile, the vast majority of countries do not have any mechanism in which to understand the source of a club’s investment and rely on generic laws with most ‘assuming’ that any financial scrutiny falls under the country’s existing club licensing system. On the premises of the above, the paper traces the case of Italy Serie A and it develops some considerations regarding the negative consequences of the lack of transparency (e.g., purchasing clubs for non-sporting reasons, such as transforming them into vehicles for money laundering, third-party investment funds and sports betting fraud).

Highlights

  • This paper reflects on the recent global study “Legal, Financial and Integrity Aspects of Club Ownership in Football” published in 2018 and spearheaded by the International Association of Lawyers (UIA), the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) INSIGHT, and the Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA)

  • The preliminary findings of this study reveal that only three countries have a dedicated body that oversees investments in football clubs and their ownership, and only two are able to fully track and monitor the money behind such investments and ownership

  • This problem is made worse by the lack of information such as audited financial statements by many associations”. In their pivotal study “Off pitch: Football‟s financial integrity weaknesses, and how to strengthen them”, Andrews and Harrington (2016) point out that “in terms of financial transparency, we asked even more basic questions; focused on whether organizations involved in football produce financial reports according to standards, make reports and information available to key stakeholders, and make reports and information available to broader groups of interested stakeholders”. These authors depict two main tiers in the football industry: the top tier, and the tier of clubs below them, where “national associations and league bodies have limited capacity to provide the oversight needed for many clubs” Andrews and Harrington (2016)

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Summary

INTRODUCTION

This paper reflects on the recent global study “Legal, Financial and Integrity Aspects of Club Ownership in Football” published in 2018 and spearheaded by the International Association of Lawyers (UIA), the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) INSIGHT, and the Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA). The vast majority of countries do not have any mechanisms in place to understand the sources of investments in a club and rely on generic laws „assuming‟ that any financial scrutiny falls under the country‟s existing club licensing system. Given these premises, the paper analyzes the case of Italy‟s Serie A, developing some considerations on the negative consequences of the lack of transparency (e.g., purchasing clubs for non-sporting reasons, such as transforming them into money laundering vehicles, third-party investment funds, and sports betting fraud). The paper is structured as follows: Section 2 reviews the recent literature, Sections 3 and 4 focus respectively on the current status quo of football in general and in Italy in particular, Section 5 concludes

METHODOLOGY AND LITERATURE REVIEW
TRACKING THE STATUS QUO
Findings
THE CASE OF SERIE A
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