Jul 1, 2009, 14:16 GMT
Paris - A report by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) released Wednesday warns that football risks being used by criminals for money laundering purposes.
The FATF, an independent inter-governmental body that develops and promotes policies to protect the global financial system against money laundering and terrorist financing, says criminals are buying clubs, transferring players, betting, image rights and sponsorship or advertising arrangements.
The report also states that the football sector is also used as a vehicle for perpetrating various other criminal activities such as trafficking in human beings, corruption, drugs trafficking (doping) and tax offences.
'There are connections between criminal organisations and the world of football - ranging from internationally operating organised crime infiltrating top football to locally operating criminals with connections in local lower leagues or even amateur football,' said the report.
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