Sociology and Criminology-Open Access
Open Access

Abstract

Football: A Call for Transparency to Curb Corruption

De Sanctis FM

Football, which has experienced an astounding transformation to a global industry with significant economic impact, has been a vehicle for the transmission of cultural and universal values. Its structural complexity (players, transfer agents, clubs and its owners, right holders of different contracts) creates a lot of moving parts that can easily hide illicit activity, especially because this structure incorporates the international market. The movement of large amounts of money, the difficulty in accounting for all transactions, and ironically, the clubs’ own financial needs increase this sector’s vulnerability to organized crime, in order to curb corruption and money laundering through them. The article argues for careful situation involving Football, identifying the risks of misconduct within sport organizations, and proposing measures that could prevent hamper and punish any attempts to thwart these organizations’ main goal: promoting sport as a way for cultural improvement and teaching people the values of tolerance and civilized coexistence.