Football's secret trade
Subtitle: how the player transfer market was infiltrated
By: Alex Duff, Tariq Panja
Contributors: Panja, Tariq, 1981- author
Published: 2017
Language: eng
Number of pages: 223
ISBN-13: 9781119145424
Subjects: Trading of; Soccer; Economic aspects; Soccer players
Description: "A no-holds-barred exposé on the financial transactions of the world's favourite sport The transfer fees clubs pay to sign top players now top 4 billion a year but much of the money has been flowing out of the game. A small group of wealthy investors including Russian oligarchs, English racehorse owners and a former billionaire gold miner have seized the opportunity to enter this booming market. Some have moved in on the territory of banks and lent money to clubs in exchange for a share in fees generated by Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and dozens more of today's stars. Others have acquired obscure teams to get a piece of the pie. Even as the global financial crisis sent fortunes tumbling this select group found a profitable place to park their money. The size of the transfer market has continued to rise - it increased seven-fold in value the last two decades, more than the FTSE share index. Between them, these wealthy investors have amassed hundreds of millions of euros in profits. At the same time, they have managed to stay out of the spotlight the worlds most popular sport brings. Footballs Secret Trade follows the money along a trail very few know about, from nondescript offices in the U.K. and ramshackle stadiums of South American clubs you have probably never heard of to offshore bank accounts in the Caribbean. Warning you wont see a major transfer deal in the same light again. "--

"The book will appeal to a global audience: to anyone with an interest in soccer, sports and business. They will be shocked to learn what goes on behind the scenes of the world's most popular sport"--
Notes: "Wiley/Bloomberg Press"--Title Page.

Prologue 1 1 The Son of Jesús 9 2 The Chess Champion 23 3 The British Tax Exile 41 4 An East End Scandal 53 5 The Prime Minister's Men 67 6 The 100-to-1 Shot 79 7 The Switzerland of South America 93 8 "Todo Pasa" 107 9 Buenos Aires to Manchester 121 10 "I Want 40% for the Boy" 137 11 The Pharmacist's Medicine 151 12 Working on a Dream 161 13 The Baur au Lac 175 14 The End Game? 187 Epilogue 199 Bibliography 207 Acknowledgments 209 About the Authors 211 Index 213.

Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: The Son of Jesús; title: The Chess Champion; title: The British Tax Exile; title: An East End Scandal; title: The Prime Minister's Men; title: The 100-to-1 Shot; title: The Switzerland of South America; title: "Todo Pasa"; title: Buenos Aires to Manchester; title: "I Want 40% for the Boy"; title: The Pharmacist's Medicine; title: Working on a Dream; title: The Baur au Lac; title: The End Game?; title: Epilogue; title: Bibliography; title: Acknowledgments; title: About the Authors; title: Index.