By Andrew Warshaw
December 17 – In the starkest example yet of the European crackdown on Third Party Ownership of players, Dutch top-flight club FC Twente have been banned from European competition for three years by their own federation.
The Dutch FA said it had been “deliberately misled” by Twente about a deal to sell player transfer fee rights to an outside investor.
FIFA and UEFA have both banned TPO as a grave threat to the game’s integrity and the Dutch says the punishment, including a €45,250 fine, follows Twente’s failure to reveal full details of an arrangement with Malta-based Doyen Sports Investments.
The Enschede-based club won their only Dutch League title under Steve McClaren, now the Newcastle boss, in 2009-10 but are currently third from bottom in the Dutch Eredivisie.
Their professional licence will be revoked if they fail to fully cooperate with an independent investigation into the club’s structure, added the Dutch FA.
FC Twente said that the sanctions would “hit hard at the heart of our club”.
A club statement said: “The core of our football club is being hit hard. We will in coming seasons not be allowed to participate in European football. That hurts. Not only for players and staff, but also for our supporters, sponsors, staff, volunteers and all others who stand wholeheartedly behind FC Twente.
“At present a wide array of measures are being taken in internal financial and organisational control. It is clear that we do everything in our power to never get into such a situation again.”
Twente president Aldo van der Laan resigned last month after leaked documents suggested the team had entered into an agreement Doyen Sports in violation of KNVB rules.
The agreement reportedly allowed the investors to inject €5 million into the club in exchange for the transfer rights of seven players and to have a say in Twente’s transfer dealings which is against the international TPO ban though the deal was apparently signed before FIFA outlawed the practise.
The KNVB said it is also sending Twente’s dealings with Doyen Sports to the KNVB prosecutor and to FIFA. “They have to judge whether the contract between FC Twente and Doyen Sports breaches national or international football rules,” the KNVB said.
Twente added in its statement: “Later this week there is again a very important moment for the future of FC Twente. The Enschede municipal council will decide on the council proposal to grant a guarantee of €32 million. Everyone in FC Twente realises fully now that every possible effort should be put in to secure a healthy future for the club. The sense of urgency to take all the necessary measures is great.”
Ironically, at its 50th anniversary sports law congress in Amsterdam this week, FIFpro, the international players union, cited TPO as being a product of the current transfer system which it is seeking to overhaul with its complaint to the European Commission.
For their part Doyen Sports has made no secret of the fact they have arrangements with various clubs but insist they are not doing anything wrong and are in fact benefitting their clients’ welfare.
In a statement last month, the company denounced the leaking of documents and said they had “nothing to hide.”
“Doyen Sports is far more than an investment fund as is continually reported,” it said, adding it was rather a sports industry agency “representing players, providing consultancy for numerous clubs on the transfer market, and developing marketing and commercial strategies for some of the most famous athletes worldwide.”
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